


ladder climbing up to her window

by notlena



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Rebuild of Evangelion | Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Police, Angst, Emotional Constipation, F/F, First Kiss, First Time, Genetic Engineering, Jealousy, Mindfuck, Murder, Oral Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:54:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23811886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notlena/pseuds/notlena
Summary: Misato is a cop. Ritsuko is a pathologist. And Tokyo is abound with deviants on the loose. When Misato's progress on a killer's trail is slowed by one too many inconclusive autopsy reports, her boss stops her operation dead in its tracks. Determined to get a one-to-one with the doctor in charge, a plan hatches in her mind. What could go wrong?
Relationships: Akagi Ritsuko/Katsuragi Misato
Comments: 13
Kudos: 23





	1. Part one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta'd, all mistakes are my own. Enjoy!

Misato has had enough. Really, she has. She is seething, anger bubbling just beneath the surface of her skin. The cool air outside Sakurada Gate, Tokyo's Metropolitan Police HQ, is harsh and biting. It is a cold November morning, and the wind is a little more than just hinting at the winter to come. Misato Katsuragi steps outside, immediately reaching for the smokes in her coat pocket. The damn Ikari and his goody two shoes bullshit. Misato thinks that, for a guy with his reputation, Ikari would not pretend to be "unaccepting of this embarrassment of an investigation" that is apparently "draining taxpayer's money". With a "selfish" detective in charge, no less.

Well. She thought _wrong_.

She wraps herself tighter in her coat to shield herself against the wind. As soon as she lights her cigarette with an annoyed gruff, an all too familiar presence manifests out the Gate's revolving door. "Detective Chief Inspector. Fancy seeing you here."

"Kaji." Misato mumbles, not in the mood. She is already fed up with the ghost of a grin on Kaji's face, who seems to be taking in her distress and finding it quite amusing.

"You're out and about early." he remarks, approaching her with a smile. A deceiving, unkind smile, Misato thinks. What does he want?

"So are you. Look, Kaji, I'm not up for your antics at 8 in the morning on a Tuesday, yeah? Be a good boy and fuck off. Thanks.", she bites out, before she can keep her temper in check. _Great_ , she sighs inwardly. _Now I am letting Kaji of all people basically see me in hysterics._

"As it happens, yes. I was assigned to a new case last night. Looks like I'll be quite busy for a while."

Misato stares ahead, unmoving. She smokes her cigarette almost studiously. He'll get the message.

"Nothing exciting though." he says, after a beat. Misato resists the urge to roll her eyes when he presses on, cheerfully, "What's got you in such a foul mood, Detective? It's a bright new day."

"Your face has got me in a foul mood, Kaji. I told you already this is not a good time. Go bother someone else."

But he never does. Kaji only ever bothers her. They've known each other for many years, ever since high school, and they attended the Academy at roughly the same time. One could describe Kaji as an old flame, though that would be particularly generous in Misato's view. They were all young once. It was a long time ago. To be precise, some 39 investigations and 11 corpses ago, in Misato's case. Though she can't deny, within the darkest corners of her mind, that Kaji has always had an effect on her. Never a _hold_ on her, but certainly an effect. And sleeping with him when they were young only made it worse. He had - still has - this sly manner, this way of getting under her skin. Instead of finding him repulsive, she's always found him attractive. Instead of being put off by his incompetence, his humour, his narrow-mindedness, she's indulged him one too many times. Seven years after their fling - which she kept under wraps at the Academy, thank you very much - Misato is ten times the cop that Kaji is, and ever will be. Smarter, sharper. Except he still thinks he can barge in on her life without even saying "Good morning". Huh. 

Perhaps that is an exaggeration, but not unduly so. Misato feels her expression morph into something undoubtedly sour when Kaji plants his feet firmly on the pavement, two mere feet away from her. She notices his body language (dripping with an infuriating familiarity), his smile, his softened gaze. He's working her, trying to get her to spill her guts without looking like he's trying. Too bad Misato was always better than him in interrogation. And negotiation. And... everything, really.

"Whether you tell me now or I find out later from all the gossip in this building, I'll know what got you so mad, M." Change of tactics. He's forcing her hand. Misato is slightly impressed. Further proof you should never underestimate those around you, not even morons like Kaji.

"Don't call me that."

"Well, what is it?"

Misato sighs. Might as well, eh? "Lost a case. I almost had it but Ikari shut me down."

She stubs her cigarette butt and turns around, walking away. 

"Wait, you mean, _the case_?" Kaji shouts, sounding more than a little surprised. 

"Yeah.", she shouts over her shoulder.

She doesn't look back at Kaji as she storms alongside the pavement, her mind already distracted with thoughts of the case and a certain someone who might have the answers she needs.

__

Three bodies, spread all over Tokyo. A spree killer on the loose. The victims were all abducted and moved to a secondary location where their corpses were found. Unlike most killers that Misato has studied or encountered, who preferred to do the deed within the privacy of four walls, and stage a perfect little doll house with the corpse inside for investigators to find, killer K (as she's called him in her notes) prefers the openness of the city's streets. Killer K gets some points for that, Misato thinks. CCTV footage shows the van picking up the first victim, seemingly with very little struggle, if any. Within 24 hours, CCTV also shows the van dropping off the victim, across the city, in the middle of the street. Clean, simple. Except every time, the van is different. Every time, they find the van, and take it into evidence. Every time, they are stumped. No traces of anything at all to be found in the vans.

Even worse, no trace of anything at all on the bodies either. Or within, if the autopsy reports are to be trusted.

Misato leans back in the uncomfortable desk chair she keeps in her flat, pen in mouth. Here is where Misato's real problem starts.

There's nothing on the autopsy report. Cause of death? Undetermined. No signs of trauma, and toxicology papers come out clean. Throughout her career, Misato had never wanted to examine a dead body with her own hands so badly. It can't be right. All signs point towards an organised killer, obviously, but organised and vicious are certainly not mutually exclusive. K must've done _something_ to these people. Something that would show up post mortem. There's no way around that. That's how _murder_ works.

She looks at the three front pages of the autopsy reports, splayed out in front of her. They were all signed off by the same team. Each time, there was a different doctor performing the autopsy, though at Misato's insistence since the first victim, they have all been supervised by a senior at the Medical Examiner's Office, one Dr Ristuko Akagi. Misato made quick work of researching her background. To her surprise, Dr Akagi actually attended at the same high school as her, though she can't remember ever meeting someone of that name. Then again, the high school experience of a would-be cop and would-be medical doctor are bound to be quite different. Different crowds, different interests. Misato could not locate a picture of Ristuko Akagi, but she could imagine her just fine. A bespectacled, mousy thing, probably.

Misato has fun with this idea for quite a while. It is late in the evening and she is already on her fourth beer of the night. Productivity is no longer an objective, she thinks. The investigation is closed now anyway. Instead of revisiting the case files, which she knows by heart, Misato's mind wanders. Ritsuko Akagi's reports brought nothing to light, and to Misato, only gross incompetence can justify that. Or negligence. Or both. She imagines a Ritsuko Akagi with skittish dark eyes, dark tresses forcefully pushed behind her ears, bland haircut and crumpled shirt, poring over a newly drafted autopsy form. In Misato's mind, she is in a dark, oppressive office, with paperwork staked to the ceiling. The smell of formaldehyde lingers on her hands.

And Misato will pay her a visit.

__

  
The Medical Examiner's Office building is every bit as small and grim as Misato expected. She steps outside of her car and shuts her door forcefully, hoping the noise would dissipate some of the lifelessness of the place. What she does not expect is to be told that Dr Akagi is not open for consultation without appointment.

Misato holds out her badge for the young man on duty at the reception to see.

"Detective Chief Inspector Katsuragi. I am here conducting an investigation and I need to talk to Dr Ritsuko Akagi. I won't be a minute.", Misato reassures, as friendly as she can muster.

"I am sorry ma'am, but this is a very busy time. We have about 18 corpses in the building, undergoing or awaiting examination. Dr Akagi is stretched very thin at the moment. I think she is scheduled for another post mortem within the next hour, actually."

"Would you go and check with her for me, please? This is a time sensitive matter and will not take long at all." 

The words flow from Misato's lips with practised ease, and the receptionist eventually concedes, getting up from behind the desk and disappearing into the guts of the building through a pin pad guarded door. Misato smiles encouragingly at him, murmuring a quiet thanks under her breath as the young man hurries along, clearly cringing at what has been asked of him.

For lack of anything to do, Misato wanders the cramped, unwelcoming reception area, and stops to look the notice board on the wall. And there she spots her: under a notice of her "recent" appointment as chief medical examiner at the Office in 2017 (the board has clearly not been updated much since then), Dr Ritsuko Akagi gives a side eye to the camera in a portrait picture. Misato stares long and hard at the aristocratic cheekbones of the blonde woman, her stylish lipstick and her modern, glossy hairstyle. In the picture, she is wearing a lab coat, which is the only thing that makes her look like a health professional. Misato admits she is taken aback, and before she understands what she's doing, she's tearing the picture from the notice board and putting it in her skirt pocket. 

The young man returns soon enough, though not before Misato has resumed her bored, relaxed slouch by the reception desk, exactly where he left her. "Apologies, Detective. Dr Akagi is genuinely elbows deep into work at the moment, though she instructed me to give you her personal mobile number. She offered to meet you for dinner tonight, actually, if that is convenient for you. She sends her profuse apologies."

Misato takes Ritsuko Akagi's number without fuss. She brazenly writes it on the back of the picture she ripped from the noticeboard, the boy none the wiser. Judging by the bold, quirky smile Dr Akagi offered the camera, Misato doubts she sent any profuse apologies.

__

They meet in a neighbourhood restaurant, a compromise between the Medical Examiner's Office and Sakurada Gate. The kind of place you wouldn't look twice at.

"I will be curt with you, Dr Akagi. I have a bone to pick with you." Misato says, once they are seated and the waiter has taken their orders. 

"What is this regarding, Detective?" 

Ritsuko Akagi replies pleasantly. She sits straight in her chair, though she seems at ease. Misato takes in the sight of her quickly and thoroughly. She notices, amongst other things, that the dim light accentuates her bone structure. The dim light also obscures any microexpressions from her eyes and mouth. To most people, that is. But Misato is not most people.

"It is about three key autopsies from an investigation I am leading, which you supervised and signed off. I must apologise for discussing such topics over dinner, but you have left me little choice."

"It is no trouble. I offered." Ritsuko replies simply.

"This is about the three minors which were found murdered over the last months, Dr Akagi. I am the head of the ongoing murder investigation into their deaths."

No reaction. Or rather, a bizarre lack of reaction. Misato notices that Ritsuko's slight nod makes the light catch on her perfectly combed, bleached blonde hair.

"Ah. Indeed. I was specifically asked to sit in for the examinations. Three of them, was it not. Such a shame."

"Yet you couldn't identify a cause of death." Misato points out with an edge.

"If that is what the report says then, it must be the case. I trust you found the reporting thorough, even if you were dissatisfied with the outcome of the autopsy?"

"There wasn't much to be thorough about. There was hardly anything reported in there."

Ritsuko shakes her head slightly, in a mute "And?". Misato isn't liking all too much how she's not letting her take charge of the conversation.

"How can it be that these three perfectly healthy fourteen year olds ended up on your table, Dr Akagi?"

"Please, call me Ritsuko. No need for formalities. We're off the clock, after all."

"Who said I am off the clock?" Misato asks. She allows her eyebrows to rise slightly, mostly for show. Rapport, she needs to build a rapport. All she's established so far is an unproductive awkwardness and that's not going to get her anywhere.

"Apologies. I did not mean to offend you."

"No offence taken, Ritsuko. Though I do need an answer. I am here on official business."

"You could have written to me through the NPA. Do I need to testify? Is this case going to court already?"

Misato almost smiles. "No, nothing like that. At least not yet. Please, answer my question."

"I do remember the examinations. I thought it was odd not to find any signs of trauma, though I long ago made peace with the fact that bodies are just that. Bodies going through the system. My job is to report on the objective truths, not to create a story. How they got on my table is on you to figure out, Detective."

Misato isn't too intimidated by her matter-of-fact tone. You have to be a cold motherfucker to cut up a child and not wonder in the least why you have to do that in the first place. "So you remember that you failed to establish a cause of death."

"I always establish a cause of death when possible."

"Not for these guys. Why was that?"

Ritsuko's face does not betray any discomfort. "I remember the last one the best, though the details are a little muddled up. I've seen many dead bodies since and they tend to all blend into one after a good night's sleep."

"What about the last one?" Misato perks up suddenly. 

"I remember searching for any lacerations or puncture marks on the body myself, when the principal examiner decided to wrap up the post mortem. I was very incredulous. I couldn't believe the body was essentially in pristine shape. I don't know what came out on toxicology, but I assume that since you are here looking at me for answers, nothing showed up there either. I remember the other two were not too dissimilar. It did strike me as highly unusual, which I made note of on the coversheet of the report."

That is correct. Misato contemplates the woman sat across her. Her physical appearance, aside from being the polar opposite of what Misato's hyperactive imagination concocted mere days ago, is immaculate. You couldn't guess the woman had spent all day examining corpses. Her makeup is in impeccable condition, unlike Misato's own, and her form fitting clothes do not have a wrinkle on them. She looks positively dolled up, and her eyes are awake and agile. Not any obvious signs of tiredness. Though Misato looks closely and spots the fatigue and tension in Ritsuko's temples, as well as in the long fingers of her hands, which she is resting on the table folded one on top of the other. Her body language is hard to read but not impossible. At the very least, she's genuinely worked a long day and looking forward to going home.

They eat their food in silence. Ritsuko makes small talk to keep Misato company after she's done with her ramen, which Misato, loath to admit, finds endearing. Ritsuko finishes her food more slowly, while keeping the conversation light and alive. The awkwardness seems to lift like fog on a summer day. Misato observes bitterly that for a person who hangs out with dead people for a living, Ritsuko's social skills are not lacking in the least. Though when Ritsuko sets her chopsticks down for the last time, Misato doesn't waste a moment to get back to talking shop.

"Tell me, doctor, have you ever seen anything like that before?"

Ritsuko pats at her mouth with a tissue, seemingly unperturbed by the abrupt way Misato redirected their pleasant back and forth. "Like teenaged boys and girls dead for no reason that I could account for using a scalpel and tongs?"

"Yes."

"No. I must admit I haven't."

Misato mulls over her reply for a moment. "Are you sure you can't give me anything more to go on? Any thoughts? Any hunches?"

Ritsuko shakes her head. "I am afraid not. I am at my most useful in my scrubs and lab coat. From where I'm sitting now, I'm just an armchair pathologist."

Misato is not exactly surprised at the outcome of the conversation. She is more surprised by Ritsuko's manner. Calm, collected. Unbothered. Misato imagined that when you have to sit across someone who is essentially questioning your professional competence, you'd be a little bothered. Ritsuko Akagi isn't in the slightest. Nor is she defensive. Judging from her attitude, she seems to truly believe her words. To her, this is nothing more than another work-related curiosity, of which she must be getting plenty. 

"I find your report hard to believe, Ritsuko. Let me just put it plainly for you."

"Surely you must have seen the pictures."

"Pictures are not as good as a look through one's own eyes, however brief."

"I understand you must be frustrated, but I can't help you. Should you wish to make a complaint, you have the means to do so. It doesn't change the fact that neither of us seems to have the slightest idea of what happened to those children."

In Ritsuko's eyes, Misato sees a glimmer she's not quite willing to ignore. She's a difficult one to crack.

"How confident are you that your examiners had not missed out on crucial evidence?"

"A hundred percent. I supervised the examinations, at the NPA's request. I can guarantee you that if there was anything we could have found, we would have found it."

"We're done here, then."

"I apologise for being the bearer of bad news, Detective."

Misato doesn't say anything. She flags down the waiter and asks for their check, which she pays in full. Ritsuko protests mildly, arguing it was her fault they met for dinner. "Nonsense. I wanted to see you urgently."

Once they've stepped outside, Misato turns to her to nod a farewell, when Ritsuko speaks up:

"Detective."

"Yes?"

"I want to help you out. I am sorry if I made it sound like I didn't."

"Don't worry about that. I'll call your office if I think of any other questions."

Ritsuko does something that surprises Misato. From their brief dinner conversation, she has grown to expect an utter calmness about this woman. Now, Ritsuko steps a little closer, and her voice drops lower, to a hushed, hurried tone. "Call my mobile. I know that whatever I do to help you along from now on, it's not going to be exactly through official channels. But I do want to help."

Misato nods, a little thrown off. "Sure."

Moments slip by while the two women search each other's eyes. "Why do you want to help?"

Ritsuko looks away at that, pensive. "You were right, earlier. I do wonder about these kids. I don't like puzzles I can't solve. And if what you are saying is true, I don't really like this notion of the perfect murder. I'll help you with this investigation as you see fit."

Misato nods along yet again. She understands the feeling all too well. There's no such thing as perfect murder. 

Ritsuko continues in a low voice, drawing just a breath closer. "Though, I must reiterate. What the Medical Examiner's Office can do for this investigation has likely been done already."

"Indeed", Misato whispers, barely a decibel above the street traffic. This close, the green in Ritsuko's large eyes peeks through rather charmingly. And this close, her clothes definitely do not smell of formaldehyde. She wears a sweet, fruity perfume that just about caresses Misato's senses. She feels suddenly ravenous. She blames it on the lack of dessert.

The moment lasts barely a second longer before they pull away, each to her own car. As an afterthought, Misato thinks to say from a slight distance, aiming at Ritsuko's back: "If you think of anything that might explain these deaths, call me."

She does not get a reply, though she swears she _senses_ the other woman smile to herself, even though she can't see her face anymore.

__

"Check this out. First victim, female. Dropped off on a street with very light traffic in Katsushika, October 3rd."

Misato extracts a crime scene picture from the file, and places it in front of Ritsuko. They decided to convene at Misato's tiny flat, on which Misato hasn't gotten any comments from her guest. Ritsuko sits down in the only chair in the whole place, while Misato stands, showing off the evidence with a moderate dose of dramatism.

Ritsuko studies the picture. "So this is what she looked like when she was found."

The blue haired young girl looks almost asleep in the picture. Very tranquil, she is in a sitting position, as if she had just stopped to rest on the pavement and fell asleep, her back against a concrete fence, her knees drawn close to her upper body. "Rei Ayanami", Ritsuko reads out loud. 

"I will refer to them from now on as the special wards where they were found. To paint a geographical picture. Hopefully you'll see a pattern."

Misato sifts through the Katsushika file, pulling out the autopsy pictures as she talks. "She grew up in foster care. Nothing remarkable about this one. And by nothing, I mean actually nothing. Her peers think she was an outsider, didn't talk much, didn't go outside much. No friends, no foes either. Katsushika was the first one we found and the one that baffled us the most. I like to believe I'm pretty good at thinking outside the box, but I cannot fathom, for the life of me, why this little girl was the target of a sadist."

"You assume the killer is a sadist, even though there's no evidence of trauma on the body." Ritsuko points her well manicured finger at the girl in the autopsy pictures. 

"I meant in a broader sense. Whoever killed her must be a sadist. Why else kill a child?" Misato asks, more to herself. She hands Ritsuko a crime scene picture of the next victim, though she needn't bother. Not much has changed for this one.

"This is the second child. Asuka Langley Soryu. She was found in Nerima on October 19th. Same situation as with Katsushika. For both of them, we have CCTV footage of their respective pick ups, in different vans. Pretty busy main streets. The footage quality is lacking but it appears they were taken away with little struggle. And then, we were able to identify CCTV of the vans around the drop off locations, though exact footage of the drop offs was not found. This is unsurprising, since both were found on quiet, smaller streets."

"Did you ever find the vans?" Ritsuko leans in, interested.

"We did."

"And?"

"There was no forensic evidence to be found in them."

"That is very surprising, I imagine."

"Not really. The cars were abandoned on purpose and they were squeaky clean. Whoever this is, they're doing a great job. And they have some serious resources."

Ritsuko makes a non-committal noise, at the back of her throat. "And the third child?"

"Shinji Shikinami, found in Shinagawa, November 1st."

"Not too far from here, then."

Misato deflates a little at the remark. "Precisely. The crime scene was a short walk away from my flat. Shinagawa got dropped off discreetly on a side street. Fortunately, we have CCTV for the drop-off. Unfortunately, there's no CCTV for the pick-up. And no car this time. Just some grainy footage of the car door opening and the body being presumably deposited on the pavement. When the car pulls away from the curb, we can see the victim's body was dropped off there. There's no direct view. We don't know if we're talking about multiple people operating here, or the driver by himself. The angles are inconvenient and ID was not possible. Though this must be the same person or people responsible for the previous children. The MO is too specific."

"It would seem so."

Misato turns on her heels and heads for the fridge in the open space kitchen. "Fancy a beer?"

"Yes, please." Ritsuko replies distractedly, looking at the crime scene pictures. When Misato returns with the open beer bottles, Ritsuko smiles up at her in thanks. Misato tries to dismiss the hormonal way in which this small gesture from this stranger seems to scramble her guts. Damn. She's too old for this. Misato doesn't understand where this is all coming from. Ritsuko Akagi is sitting politely in her flat, indulging her in this insanity. Nothing more than that. Misato feels kind of like a creep, and also feels kind of like she doesn't give a fuck.

Ritsuko's voice brings her back down to Earth. "Nerima and Shinagawa... were they also orphans?"

"No. Nerima lived with her single mother, and Shinagawa was the adopted son of a couple who lives in Saitama. Nerima's mother attempted to kill herself after she got the news of her daughter dying. She was pretty shaken up, and not very helpful. Shinagawa's parents are taking it a little better by comparison, though investigating them was a dead end. So far, we haven't been able to establish a link between the victims. From the canvasing we've been doing, it is unlikely that the victims knew each other."

"I don't know what to say. I must say I have not been trained for this."

"I have. This speaks nothing to me either." Misato pauses. "It's the cause of death that is the problem here. We don't know how the victims died. There is no forensic evidence."

"You can't investigate a case with no forensic evidence." Ritsuko chances a guess, and Misato looks at her straight on.

"Exactly."

"And you want me to come up with this forensic evidence."

"I certainly hoped that you might be able to come up with a hypothesis, at the very least. Nobody just dies like this. Especially not young teens."

"I see. Thank you for walking me through the case. I admit I was curious to find out the details, but these details are not helping me come any closer to a scientific hypothesis. If anything, I might now be burdened by the same biases as you, detective."

"Misato."

"Misato." Ritsuko offers a barely there smile. 

"You understand I am counting on your complete discretion, Ritsuko. This is just between you and me. You may ask around and confer with colleagues, but I have to ask you to keep the details strictly confidential."

"Of course. I will do some research on what this could all be, though I warn you not to get your hopes up."

"Consider me warned. I am grasping at straws here."

Ritsuko leaves shortly thereafter. It is a Saturday night and Misato can't help but imagine that she probably has plans. Beautiful, erudite, polished women like her don't tend to spend too long without company, Misato knows.

"Thank you for having me over." she says at the door.

"I appreciate your commitment to discretion. Thank you for coming here." Misato's throat dries up at the sight of the blonde woman bending over to tie her shoe laces, long legs suddenly impossible to ignore. She feels like a sixteen year old boy. Horny and kinda stupid. What's all this?

"I'll call you to check on your progress." Misato adds pathetically, before Ritsuko disappears down the hallway with a respectful bow and a polite smile gracing her features.

After she leaves, Misato leans her back against the closed door, throwing her head back none too gently. What in the name of the Lord is she doing? The investigation is closed. There are a bunch of new cases piling up on her desk. There are task forces she has to meet Monday first thing. She has to move on from this killer K business. But now she has dragged this stranger into it on false pretence, breaching about 100 rules of conduct.

The noise in Misato's head grows louder and louder, a jumble of thoughts racing against each other to the inevitable finish line of oblivion. Misato opens her fridge for a second beer. She cleaned the place before Ritsuko arrived. It was about time, the whole apartment was littered with empty alcohol bottles, takeout boxes and junk food packets. Uncaring, Misato gulps down her freshly opened beer as quickly as it would go and throws the bottle haphazardly on the floor; she can already picture the mess returning. She just can't be bothered with it now.

Monday is a new day, she decides. On Monday she'll move on with her new workload and phone Ritsuko to call off this half-assed agreement Misato struck with her. Dr Akagi must think she's a nut. She was only politely indulging her, that's all.

What had started as scratching an itch and possibly putting the fear of God into some incompetent medical examiner whose negligence ruined her case, now became a bizarre back and forth with a gorgeous woman Misato was apparently attracted to, to a comical degree. _Great. Excellent_. She downs another beer, trying her best to ignore the warm tingling in her groin. She certainly tries her best not to imagine one Ritsuko Akagi in her skintight attire, going home with a dark, handsome man and getting fucked into the mattress. It doesn't really work out.

__

It turns out that Dr Ritsuko Akagi was a full time researcher in pathogenetics before her appointment to the Medical Examiner's Office in 2017. Nowadays, she splits her time between the research lab and the autopsy table, or so she is meant to. After some thorough digging, Misato discovers her postdoctoral project's funding got cut midway by the Research and Innovation Ministry. She was offered the chance to join the Medical Examiner's Office in a senior position as a compensation. Dr Ritsuko Akagi was by all means prodigious, managing to complete a full time doctorate in genetics at the same time as her clinical studies. And now she was cutting up dead people on the daily.

Several months had passed since their second (and last) face to face encounter at Misato's apartment. Early February snow was catching on the soles of Misato's shoes as she was rushing about, now caught up in different investigations, once again in full swing, barking orders, allocating resources, closing cases. Life went on after the momentary failure of the killer K case, and Misato got promoted around Christmas to Superintendent. Daily routine at the Gate included, as always, avoiding Kaji, minimising any antagonistic behaviour with her boss, Commissioner Gendo Ikari, and nailing down the bad guys. She could not ask for more, really. There was a whole fuss about her becoming the youngest Superintendent in NPA history, and then there was an ensuing party doubling as Christmas gathering, and Misato was grateful. Though the three children still weighed on her mind, a sinking feeling told her that this wasn't the last they were going to see of killer K. If (when) the killer comes back, she will fight tooth and nail for a better equipped task force to get the bastard off the streets. 

Finally catching a break for the day, Misato is eating a donut and drinking a large coffee in her car outside the Gate. She suddenly gets a feeling of dread creeping all over her. Today has been an ordinary day. Nothing to trigger any latent anxieties has happened, so Misato is taken aback by the almost physiological state of unwell that has come over her. The glazed donut now tastes bitter and the coffee is almost undrinkable. She leans back in her seat, trying to calm her suddenly racing heart. This is very unusual for her. She tries to distract herself with some happy thoughts, and comes back from the depths of her consciousness empty-handed. Giving up on any pretence, she lets her thoughts slip to her latest favourite daydream, of a certain blonde haired woman and her smart eyes, and pleasant voice. Misato did end up calling her after the weekend of their last encounter, confessing that the case had in fact closed and apologising for misleading her.

"You must think I am completely unprofessional." she had stated into the receiver, contemplating her actions.

"I don't think that. I think you were keen to leave no stones unturned. You were just being thorough, detective."

"Please, call me Misato." she said, rubbing her face. "Thanks for your understanding. Despite the circumstances, it was nice meeting you, Ritsuko." she says and almost quits the call before Ritsuko can reply.

"Misato?"

"Yes?"

"I'll keep an eye out anyway. If I come up with anything, can I call you?"

To say Misato was relieved to hear those words would be an understatement. "Yes, of course. Thank you."

And that was the end of it. Since then, Misato has entertained a fair number of innocent daydreams and less than innocent night-time fantasies featuring Ritsuko Akagi and her aura of intellect and composure. Every other week Misato would promise herself to call Ritsuko and ask her to go out for a coffee, and she would forget about it entirely. Or rather, pretend to forget about it entirely. She hasn't heard from the good doctor since that phone call, and in a way, she's thankful she hasn't. For one, because the more her fantasies run wild, the harder it is to look the woman in the face, and two, because whatever Ritsuko finds out about those children, it won't be good news. Misato has a lot on her plate as it is. 

But mostly, Misato really doesn't understand why two brief meetings with this stranger managed to get her so taken with the woman. This fascination is getting out of control little by little, and Misato feels lightheaded with it. And more than just a little ashamed. In particular, Misato is not too proud of a chance encounter she had at the bar round the corner from her place, with a strange woman with long legs and blonde hair. This happened sometime in the past month, with a drop dead, gorgeous lady who did not resemble Ritsuko at all apart from her bleached blonde hair. 

Misato approached the woman and appropriately piled the both of them with their drinks of choice. She seemed to revel in the attention, which Misato took as a good sign. The drunker Misato got, the bolder she became, to her absolute shame the following morning. She distinctly remembers accompanying the woman outside for a smoke and drawing nearer her, trapping her against the concrete wall and whispering with what she hoped was an attractive air: "I'm a cop, you know."

As if that line was going to make her drop her knickers instantly. Misato cringes to this day at the memory. She sounded like every man she's ever known. Though, Misato ended up being not far off the mark, as the strange woman (who, upon further reflection, was definitely at least a handful of years younger than Misato herself) peered at Misato prettily from underneath her long, mascara-covered lashes, and whispered: "Do you always catch the bad guys, ma'am?"

"Come closer and I'll tell you."

Misato naturally ended up taking her home, after an inappropriate makeout session against the wall outside the bar. In the morning, she drove the woman (girl) back to her place, in a rather civilised show of thoughtfulness. She never intends to see her again. What Misato remembers from that night is rough sex on her modest futon, and the way the long blonde hair looked all gathered up in Misato's fist as the girl pleaded to be fingerfucked deeper, harder, faster. 

The encounter did the job, more or less. Her mind still wanders to Ritsuko Akagi from time to time, though in predominantly innocent ways. There was a certain comfort she felt around Ritsuko, probably a consequence of her surprisingly eloquent manner and friendly, non-defensive approach to Misato's abrasive questioning. That, and she was also very easy on the eyes. Misato felt treated as an equal by Dr Akagi, which was pretty unique in her life. It was either people looking up to her or bossing her around. Such is life in the police force. Misato doesn't really have any friends outside work, and to spend some time with an interesting adult outside the walls of the Gate or a slimy pub was definitely a novelty. 

Misato is rudely awakened from her reverie by her mobile phone buzzing in the passenger seat. Coffee and donut abandoned, she reaches over and is taken aback to see Ritsuko's name on the screen, as if by summon. Except if it truly were by summon, the good doctor would have ended up calling every other day for the past three months.

"Katsuragi, speaking."

"Misato. This is Dr Ritsuko Akagi, from the Medical Examiner's Office. I hope you still remember me, we met last autumn briefly."

Misato fights the urge to clear her throat. "Of course, Ritsuko. Do you have any news for me?"

Long pause at the other end. Misato guesses Ritsuko is choosing her words. "I do, actually. It is best if we meet in person..."

Misato scribbles down an address on her notepad and drives, both relieved and nervous to return to the killer K case. She tells herself the slight unease in her stomach has nothing to do with Ritsuko Akagi.

__

Misato parks her car in the underground parking space of Ritsuko's apartment building, as per her instructions. She heads for the stairs to the upper floors when she sees Ritsuko emerging from her own car.

"Misato. Here." Ritsuko gestures her over with an elegant wave. Misato hurries over to the other side of the parking garage, heart rate already picking up.

"Good afternoon, Misato. Thanks for meeting me here. I would invite you upstairs but I am afraid I am running a little short on time. I am sure you are in a hurry as well."

Misato nods, and waits. Ritsuko draws her away from the cars to a secluded corner. Misato automatically registers they are obscured from view from the door to the main building, as well as from most of the cars parked, by a sturdy pillar. Ritsuko maintains her distance, but her voice is low when she speaks.

"I have a theory about how those children could have died like they did, but it's not very straightforward to explain." She shoves her hands in her pockets, glancing away from Misato. She is visibly trying to mask her anxiety.

Misato is intrigued. She takes pity on Ritsuko, who seems at a loss for what to say next. "Can you prove it?" Your theory, can it be proved?"

"Yes. With the right materials, I can either prove or disprove this theory I have."

"Tell me what you need to prove it and I will arrange it."

Ritsuko pins her with her gaze, without warning. Her stare is hard and impenetrable. "This might in fact be highly illegal. Not just us conferring like this, but what I'm about to propose. I wonder if it's worth doing at all. You could lose your job."

"So could you. If I'm going down, you're going down with me too. What do you need, Ritsuko? Let's talk this through."

"I need DNA samples from all the victims. I need to sequence their genomes and do some analysis on their nucleic acid sequences. The good part is that I can anonymise the samples and submit them to the sequencer at my laboratory. The bad part is that I need a powerful computer, where I have sole access, to process the raw data from the sequencer. We can't risk anyone finding out about this until we know what is going on."

Her eyes search Misato's face continuously. Misato returns her gaze, and unspoken words go back and forth between them for long moments, before Misato speaks up: "We don't have any biological probes in evidence. Acquiring DNA samples from the victims will be a long and challenging process in and of itself. Of course, I can't do that through NPA unless the case reopens."

"You'll just have to break the law here and there." Ritsuko murmurs apologetically. "I need some good quality DNA for any analysis to work."

"What are you hoping to find?"

"When I tell you how insane this theory sounds, you won't believe I am even entertaining it." Ritsuko says, lowering her voice more and more. "But I can't think of anything else. This must be it."

"Tell me."

"I propose that the genetic material of the three victims was edited using an ad-hoc technique. One way this could have been done is by adeno-associated virus vector editing. What I expect to see is some sort of very small modification to their genome in the post mortem, or near time of death, which will be conserved across victims. Essentially, they could have been infected with a man-made viral vector which killed them by altering or switching off an essential genetic function. This would be invisible on autopsy, for instance if some of their neurons were ablated successfully using a viral vector. I wouldn't have been able to see that macroscopically."

Misato's mind is reeling. Could it be possible then? A mere injection, not visible on any bloodwork, causing these young, healthy children to die? It seems like the perfect explanation. The recipe for the perfect murder, the puzzle piece that changes the picture completely.

"All the post mortem evidence is gone for good. All bodies were cremated."

"I believe that the time between infection and death has to be a lot longer than mere hours. It's very likely that the victims were picked up after the killer had essentially initiated their murder."

"So the kidnapping might just be a decoy then... a red herring."

"Or a way to prevent the victims from getting medical attention as their condition worsens."

Misato nods. It makes perfect sense.

"I'll get to work on acquiring those DNA samples, hopefully as recent as possible. Once I've got all of them, we can start building you a high-performance computer and getting to the bottom of this." Suddenly, the reality of this insane plan hits Misato like a truck full of bricks. She's really about to risk her career by trusting this woman and getting on board with a highly unethical, illegal covert operation, right behind NPA's back and making full use of her Superintendent badge.

Ritsuko nods a little, studying Misato's face unabashedly. "You're wondering if you can trust me."

"Can I, Ritsuko?"

"Only as much as I can trust _you_."

"Then we can trust one another fully."

Ritsuko seems pleased at the words. "I have to go now. I can't start going missing. People will talk."

"I'll call you."

Misato watches Ritsuko reverse and drive through the open garage door, and stands there for some time. In part to decide what to do next, and in part to give Ritsuko a head start before she's seen leaving her apartment building. As a cop, Misato knows you can never be too careful. With a deranged killer on the loose, Misato has to protect herself. And Ritsuko now, too.

__

Obtaining recent DNA samples from the three children proves to be every bit as difficult as Misato anticipated. She first visits the Shikinamis, Shinagawa's parents, just outside Tokyo, where she asks them a bunch of decoy questions to justify her visit. Then, she guiltily manipulates them into showing her to the teen's room, which, thankfully, they left untouched. Misato reassures them comfortingly that they don't need to hang around the room while she has a look, and thanks them for their bravery and cooperation. She searches the room for anything usable like a toothbrush (unlikely) or a comb, while she can hear Mrs Shikinami sobbing into her husband's chest downstairs. 

Misato noses through everything she can think of. Evidence bag and tweezers in one hand, she lightly sifts through all the belongings of the fourteen year old boy, to no avail. The floor had been vacuumed and there was no comb or hairbrush around that she could see. The clothes in the drawers were essentially in impeccable condition, everything orderly and ironed. Not a speck of dust on anything, nevermind macroscopic hairs. Prepared to give up and take her leave before the two grieving parents start getting suspicious of her visit, Misato gets one last idea. Shinagawa was a healthy fourteen year old boy. There must be some traces of semen somewhere in this room. Misato hadn't spotted a clothes hamper, and the underwear drawer proved to be an unlucky guess, though she hasn't searched under the bed too closely. Sure enough, Misato finds a nicely folded handkerchief disguised underneath one of the floorboards, and unfolding it a little confirms her suspicion.

"Gotcha."

She bags the sample and leaves promptly. Two more to go.

__

Misato feels pretty bad about herself by the time she's got everything she needs. Spaced out in between her duties as Superintendent, her ongoing cases and sleeping five hours a night, she takes four days to complete this rather unfortunate Easter egg hunt. She visits Nerima's mother, one very fragile, very upset Ms Langley, where she manages to rescue a generous sample of the victim's long, red hair. She leaves Ms Langley's flat while the poor woman is wailing in near-apocalyptic hysterics, refusing to look Misato in the face, demanding that she leave immediately. Misato hopes this visit won't come to bite her in the ass later.

Katsushika's proves to be the most difficult sample to source. Misato visits the orphanage and is told, to her surprise, that the girl's few possessions got taken away just a couple of weeks back. The ward manager Misato spoke to could not locate the name nor the address of the people who picked up her things, but she was told it was ordered by the Child Protective Services, "for sure". Misato was thoroughly dissatisfied to learn that Katsushika's case worker also seemed completely unaware of the fact that the girl's possessions were seized after her death. There was no record anywhere in the orphanage of who got a hold of them and why. Any trace of Katsushika's existence had completely vanished from this place, which Misato found extremely curious. She remembers being in her room before, while the investigation was ongoing, and feels foolish that crucial evidence just slipped through her fingers.

Misato is smoking in the courtyard of the orphanage when a boy about Katsushika's own age approaches her tentatively.

"I see that you are here looking for Rei. She's not around anymore."

Misato sighs, and decides to give the kid the show of his lifetime by pulling out her badge from the inside of her coat pocket, making sure he notices her gun hoisted on her hip as well. "My name is Detective Superintendent Katsuragi. I'm here investigating Rei's death. Were you her friend?"

The boy's eyes widen like saucers at the sight of Misato's shiny badge, even more so at the sight of her concealed firearm. Misato smiles inwardly. It never gets old. Kids always love stuff like this. "Um, not exactly, Detective Super-Superintendent." He stutters a little. He's a cute little boy.

"What's your name?"

"Daiki, ma'am."

Misato decides to entertain the kid for a little while, to give herself some time to clear her head, and give him some gossip fuel for weeks to come. "Did you know Rei Ayanami at all, Daiki?"

"A little. She was a really beautiful girl. I really liked her."

“Did you talk to her much?”

“N-no. Not really.”

“Do you know anybody who did? Or anybody who might still have something of hers lying around?” Misato asks distractedly.

“Well, Rei didn’t really have… friends. But I do have something of hers.”

Misato tries not to give away her sudden interest. “Really? What might that be? Like a book of hers or something?”

Daiki looks at the ground at that. “Well, yes…”

“Anything else?”

“Why are you asking?”

“I just need something of hers for the case. Couldn’t really find any so far so, maybe you can help me.”

“Oh, I can! I have some stuff of Rei’s.”

“But not a book, Daiki-kun. A book could have been anyone's. I need something that I can know for sure was hers, and very recently, too. Not like from months ago or something. I’m no fool. I’m a detective.” Misato gives him a brief stare down that she knows to be particularly intimidating, for extra effect.

“How badly do you need it, ma’am…?”

“Let’s just say that I need it badly enough that if you have it, I’ll eventually get it. Whether you hand it to me now or whether I come back for it with a warrant tomorrow.” Misato’s shameless bluff is almost comical. But hey, after all the horrible stuff she’s done for this insane, illegal op, what’s a little messing a clueless minor about?

Conflict is visible on the young boy’s face. “Come on, spit it out.” Misato coaxes, less gently that she should. It's all in the act, Misato thinks. That's how she gets things done so well in her line of work. Misato developed the ability to camouflage her true self under a mask of infinite personalities, a new one always taking its turn to bubble up to the surface and save the day.

"I have some of her hair... you know how it was always like blue and stuff. I have some of it. Please don't tell me I'm in trouble now."

Misato smiles like a child whose birthday has come early. "That's actually the opposite, kid. Can I have some?"

"Wuh...What? Really?"

"Yeah! I wasn't kidding before. I really need this stuff. You know, for the case."

"You don't want to know how I got it or anything?"

"Trust me, Daiki. I know you can end up doing some really weird shit when you like a girl."

"...I'll go fetch it from my room...?"

"I'll come with you. You can give me a little tour and then I'll get you some ice cream, yeah? For your time and cooperation?" Misato winks for good measure and follows the child along, thanking her dumb luck. Daiki ends up explaining without much prompting how he cut a lock of Rei's sky blue hair during the last assembly, which was incidentally the day she went missing, and got away with it. Misato nods along compassionately. He says he just wanted to feel closer to her, y'know? Daiki opens what appears to be his scrapbook, where sure enough, some of Katsushika's hair was inexpertly taped to the dogeared page. Misato says she understands, using her tweezers to collect some blue hairs into several separate evidence bags (you can never be too careful). She then holds up on her promise to treat the boy to ice cream, to his delight. Now that the final piece of evidence has been secured, Misato is ready to initiate the handover into Ritsuko's adept hands.

__

  
She calls Ritsuko from her car on her way home. It's nearly midnight by the time Misato leaves the Gate. While she was away running her not-so-legal errands, it seemed like a pile of steaming shit had accumulated on her desk. She managed to work through some of her tasks, but decided to head back as soon as possible, needing to catch Ritsuko on the phone and arrange the drop-off for the newly collected DNA samples.

Ritsuko picks up after the second tone. "Misato?"

"Ritsuko. It's me." Misato says, eyes on the road. "I need to talk to you."

"Right, of course. Do you want to come over?"

Misato is taken aback. Though perhaps she shouldn't be. It's hard to tell anymore, what is or isn't appropriate when they are committing professional suicide Hollywood style, starting unauthorised covert operations and meeting in parking lots. "Right now?"

Pause. Misato wants to slap herself. Was it her imagination or did her own voice sound _croaky_?

"I don't see why not. Should I text you the address again?"

"No. I remember how to get there."

"I'm in flat 12. ETA?"

"About twenty minutes. See you then."

Ritsuko hangs up and Misato keeps her mind carefully blank for the rest of the drive. Despite that, she feels the presence of the evidence bags in her briefcase almost as if they were their own entities. She should have declined the offer and arranged a proper, anonymous pickup operation for the samples. This is very unprofessional, not to mention very, very _irresponsible_. The evidence should definitely not travel miles and miles back and forth between the collection site and the lab. Misato tries to ignore the sense of dread trying to take over. It's fine. It's all going to be fine. She needed to meet with Ritsuko to figure out the next steps anyway, what sense would it make not to bring the samples along?

Ritsuko lives quite far from the centre, which is rather convenient for the purpose of this sordid arrangement. Low risk of bumping into people she might know. When she rings the doorbell at flat 12, Ritsuko opens the door, still dressed in her day clothes. 

"Please, come in. Misato. Can I get you anything? Water? A drink?"

Misato walks in, her bare feet feeling the comfort of the warm wooden floorboards. The place is nice and kind of luxurious, unlike Misato's cramped, bleak flat in the heart of Tokyo. "A drink, please, but only if you'll have one too."

Ritsuko looks at her over her shoulder from the open fridge door, with a smile and a slight twinkle in her eye. "I don't know, will I need it?"

Misato finally lets her tiredness crumple her posture and she sighs deeply, scrubbing at her face with one hand. "Actually, yes. You might need a drink for this."

Ritsuko offers them two beer cans, and before she can say anything else, Misato speaks up: "I have samples from all three victims."

"What, really? Already?"

"I'm not going to lie, it was not as easy as you might think."

"No, I don't think it was easy at all. How did you manage?"

"It wasn't very pleasant. In brief, I am now carrying in my briefcase a cum-stained handkerchief, hair from a hairbrush and hair which had most recently been stored between the pages of a scrapbook, suck with tape. Long story."

Misato nods at the briefcase she left by the locked door. She then turns back to Ritsuko, who seems to be impressed by her efforts. Misato is not going to try to lie about it, it feels nice.

"That's amazing. It's all in there?"

"Yes, all labelled and good to go. Ritsuko, what are we doing here?" Misato murmurs, suddenly feeling very tired.

Ritsuko seems to come to the realisation that things just got very real about the same time as Misato does. Both women are standing facing one another in the middle of the sitting room, and a thousand thoughts are racing through Misato's head.

"What do you want to do, Detective?"

"Misato." she says, taking a quick swing of her beer. "We need burner phones. We've been reckless using our mobiles to stay in touch. I've jeopardised our efforts by not ensuring we have the required infrastructure to carry out an op of this magnitude. And I've jeopardised your career, and your safety, now that you've been handed evidence you would not have on your hands normally. We need to do this by the book from now on."

"Understood." Ritsuko nods eagerly, and there is something _irresistible_ about how she's taking this whole madness in stride, how she's been going along with Misato's requests from day one. Her neck elongates beautifully as she turns her head to the side, away from Misato. She watches Ritsuko shamelessly as the woman drinks her beer quietly, looking away to the large windows, into the night sky. Thinking. There is a sharpness to Ritsuko's gaze that Misato is taken with, but not as much as she is taken with the idea of wiping that sharpness off from her eyes in the throes of passion. 

Her unsavoury thoughts make a shudder run through her body, displeased at her inappropriate daydreaming. "We need to figure out a way for you to gain access to the lab and computational resources you need. I'll do my best to figure out a cover for you to carry out this work. In case the operation falls through, I have to make sure you come out clean. For all intents and purposes, we should stick to the story that I pressured and misled you into participating in this, under false pretences of legitimacy."

Ritsuko's gaze is on her once again. Her eyes seem softer than they were a moment before, almost kind. Misato registers the woman stepping closer, their chests almost touching, and that's about as much as Misato can take. From up close, Ritsuko reminds her of a feline. Eager eyes and smooth movements, all wrapped up in mesmerising beauty. For Misato's eyes only.

"We'll figure all those things out." Ritsuko whispers close to her ear, their cheeks brushing the slightest bit. "Is your car parked out of sight?"

Misato breathes out an airy, "Yes". The tantalising rise and fall of Ritsuko's chest, almost touching her own, makes Misato's hands move to Ritsuko's hips on their own accord. She plans her palms firmly on her body, drawing her imperceptibly closer. Just the lightest pressure. Misato still can't see her face, which is now fully pressed against the side of her own. She angles her head to take in the smell of Ritsuko's hair, almost gently. Almost tenderly. But not quite. Misato becomes deeply aware of her ravenous _need_ to touch Ritsuko more, harder. "Is this my invitation to stay, then?" she murmurs, moving a hand to Ritsuko's fine, blond hair.

"I was afraid you might not take me up on the offer."

Misato gently pulls at her hair to make Ritsuko face her. "You needn't have. You're making quite an irresistible offer. Unless I am misunderstanding?"

Ritsuko's gaze drops lower, to Misato's lips, her neck, in an elegant show of submission. She supposes it must drive her partners mad with want. "No misunderstandings between us, Misato."

Misato leans in to capture her mouth in a kiss. At the contact, the jumble of repressed feelings comes forward like a firework display in Misato's chest. Ritsuko responds eagerly and the kiss soon turns filthy. Misato isn't as gentle as she'd like to be, or as patient. She doesn't pace herself, grabbing Ritsuko's hips and pressing against her with intent. They soon hit the nearest wall, Misato controlling the kiss with ease. She grinds her crotch roughly against Ritsuko's hip, feeling mad with lust. And the other woman responds, slowly but surely. Misato thinks she's going to have an aneurism when she feels the composed, reserved Ritsuko Akagi moving her hips in time with Misato's own, the two women grinding against each other through their clothes at an embarrassingly fast pace. Humping someone's leg should not feel this good when you're a grown woman. Misato is determined to chase her orgasm like this when she feels Ritsuko throw her head against the wall and bring a leg up around Misato's waist, to give the both of them better access. She holds Ritsuko firmly, splayed out like that for Misato's pleasure, making sure to give her just enough wiggle room to get herself off and no more. She is apparently enjoying herself in Misato's grip, matching her pants and small moans. They only halt their movements briefly to readjust the position and shed their tops and bras, before resuming the rough, fast pace of their grinding. The pleasure builds up, and Misato sucks at the beautiful juncture between Ritsuko's neck and shoulder hungrily, enjoying the moans and hands in her hair telling her she's definitely doing the right thing. Misato feels how wet she's become in her underwear, which contributes to the height of her pleasure. She doesn't recall being this turned on in ages.

Ritsuko suddenly flips them around, the two women never breaking contact or slowing down the maddening pace. With Misato against the wall, Ritsuko begins to pick up the pace of her movements, which grow more and more erratic as her body tenses up with pleasure. Misato's sole focus becomes to enable Ritsuko to hit the spot _just right_ on each thrust, whispering sweet nothings in her ear and pushing her hips up and down her leg as Ritsuko's orgasm wrecks through her body. Their heavy panting becomes deafening in the quiet room after her movements finally still, and Misato wraps her up in her arms to hold her steady. "Bed?" she says, pushing some of Ritsuko's hair off her forehead. 

Ritsuko nods wordlessly, head down and gaze a little lost, in a rather endearing moment of vulnerability. They take a few steps hand in hand, though Misato feels Ritsuko wobble on her legs. Misato stops and, without asking for permission, sweeps the tall woman off her feet, which earns her a confused almost-squeak. "I'm heavy!" she protests, weakly.

Misato snorts, holding her up in her arms with little difficulty. "No, though you are rather tall so watch your head and legs when we go through the door, yeah?"

Misato lays Ritsuko on her immaculate bed and climbs in when Ritsuko extends her arms up towards her. In a fascinating shift, her demeanour changes from the demure, vulnerable woman she picked up in the living room, to a seasoned temptress, who gives Misato a scorching look through heavy lidded eyes. Misato is painfully reminded of her wetness as she settles on top of Ritsuko, and their kisses grow heavy and obscene yet again. Through the haze of lust, Misato discerns a tenderness in their fucking which should not be there. They're essentially strangers, brought together by a twist of fate. Misato doesn't get a chance to dwell on such thoughts for the night, as several rounds of enthusiastic sex leave her exhausted and ready to fall asleep in said stranger's bed.

At some point in the night, she feels a sleeping Ritsuko reaching over to Misato's side of the bed and taking her hand in her own. 

__

Misato's mobile ringing wakes the both of them up very early into the morning.

She picks up the phone instinctively and listens groggily to the voice on the other end of the line. She is instantly awakened by what she hears, and turns over in bed to look at Ritsuko, still on the phone. Ritsuko seems to rouse in an instant next to her, probably as an artefact of her years in clinical training. Furthermore, she seems to get the message that something is happening after taking in Misato's widened eyes.

"Run the address by me, guv, I'm on my way." she says to the receiver before hanging up.

Ritsuko is waiting patiently next to her as Misato rubs the sleep from her eyes. "There's been another murder. Young teen. We have a new body."

__


	2. Part two

  
The fourth child was dropped on Sendai Zaka, in the middle of Minato special ward, to Misato's annoyance. The killer was getting extremely cocky and was apparently (unfortunately) back at dumping bodies of minors on the streets of Tokyo.  
  
The victim (male, fourteen) left behind a younger sister struggling with life changing injuries, which she suffered in a road accident several years prior. He also left behind two devastated parents. The uniformed officers found the body resting peacefully against a telegraph pole, eyes closed and overall in the same inexplicably pristine condition Misato has come to expect. She feels deeply unsettled at killer K's MO. Crime scenes are meant to be gory, messy, smelly, smeared with evidence to be untangled and put together by clever investigators. They are not meant to be this: casual, almost serene.  
  
The next couple of days go by in a whirl, with police resources to allocate and meetings to be had. Commissioner Gendo Ikari sternly warns her against wasting any time and manpower, now that the case has been reopened, at which Misato nods along like the good girl she can be. She secretly feels reassured by the fact that Ritsuko will be examining the body. Having a man on the inside, so to speak, is both rare and valuable in her line of work, and it is taking some pressure off Misato. The bland, unhelpful medical reports from the previous cases had been the bane of her existence. Not to mention completely out of her control. Now that she's gained some power in that respect, the psychological payoff is immediate. Misato feels different about Minato than she's felt investigating the previous children. Her indiscretion with Ritsuko notwithstanding, she feels that two brains are better than one, and the odds are more in her favour than they ever were.  
  
The autopsy report comes back utterly blank, which Ritsuko warned of, in a brief phone call when the Medical Examiner's Office logged the receipt of Minato's body.  
  
"It doesn't look much better, Misato." she whispered in a hushed voice, obviously struggling to get on the phone discreetly.  
  
"Well, you'd better get into your scrubs and lab coat and tell me all about it when you're done, yeah?" Misato says playfully. Pushing the boundary, just a little.  
  
"Couldn't have said it better myself, Superintendent Katsuragi."  
  
Misato is delighted to hear the smile in her voice.  
  
She is gulping down some yakisoba late into the night that day when she realises she's never mentioned her promotion to Ritsuko. She thinks little of it. It's a small world after all, and the news must've made it to press and round NPA and associated bodies. It's not every day that a 29 year old woman makes it to Superintendent in Japan.  
  
__  
  
Misato recruits the very best officers for the killer K task force and manages to strike a deal with the Commissioner about recruiting a consultant too. Misato plays it coy, she tells Gendo Ikari she is scouting for a scientific specialist to join the investigation and she has some candidates in mind, but she needs clearance to bring a consultant in before she initiates any negotiations. Gendo doesn't really buy it, but as it is his habit, he taciturnly agrees to the idea after some nerve-wracking convincing work. He remarks pointedly that this case reopening finds Misato as a Detective Superintendent, and failure will be costly for the NPA, as well as for career. _Bastard_.  
  
Misato calls Ritsuko, almost ecstatic at her triumph over the system "Hey, it's me. Thanks for sending over the autopsy report in record time. Things are getting pretty crazy around here now that the case has reopened. I have a proposition for you."  
  
"Let's hear it."  
  
"How do you feel about coming in officially as a consultant? Papers and everything."  
  
Misato is puzzled at the ensuing silence. Ritsuko's voice is even when she eventually replies, though Misato can't kid herself into ignoring the slight hesitance in her tone. "You want me to come and work for the NPA, is that correct?"  
  
"Well, yes. I made arrangements for you to join my task force for the duration of this investigation."  
  
"Misato, is that _wise_?"  
  
"Definitely wiser than what we've been doing so far." Misato all but snaps, trying to keep a level head. She knows it's a lot to ask from someone who's got her own career to tend to, thank you very much. But still. It's the right thing to do.  
  
Her less than friendly tone seems to have quietened Ritsuko once again. Several tense moments pass while they stay on the line. Misato's face scrunches up in a frown, as she adjusts her attitude and says: "I'm really sorry. That was not how I meant for it to come out. Look, Ritsuko... this is taking so much pressure off my back. We can launder our little operation and make it all legitimate, which is good. It's great, actually. No burner phones needed, no more sneaking around with literal _dynamite_ in a briefcase. I can get you lab time and computer time and basically everything you need on NPA money. _It can save our careers from reaching a premature end._ "  
  
"I understand that. Of course. In that case, I'll get back to you with my confirmation once I arrange my substitute at the Medical Examiner's Office."  
  
Misato winces at Ritsuko's matter of fact tone. "Have some time to think about it. You don't have to take me up on this offer, of course. I want to make that very clear."  
  
"We don't have time to waste. I've made up my mind. I'll call you."  
  
She hangs up and Misato smiles to herself. Another win in the basket. Sort of.  
  
The killer K task force becomes the largest ongoing effort at the Gate within days, with uniforms canvassing Minato special ward, reviewing hundreds of hours of CCTV footage and detectives conducting interviews. Kaji inevitably joins in, as he works under one of the most talented detective inspectors in the building. Misato is filling in Ritsuko's paperwork and drafting her employment contract at her desk, two days after Minato was found, when she notices Kaji strutting about outside her office door.  
  
"Detective Sergeant Kaji Ryouji!" she shouts, on a whim.  
  
Kaji pops his head in her office promptly, as though he has nothing else to tend to. A classic. "Yes, Superintendent?"  
  
"Come in and close the door, please."  
  
He does, obediently, his curiosity more than a little piqued. His interest is obvious on his face when he looks at Misato expectantly. "Can I be of help, ma'am?"  
  
Misato looks up briefly, and regards him with a distracted gaze, trying to sound casual when she says: "Do you remember anyone at our school by the name of Ritsuko Akagi?"  
  
Kaji gives a confused smile, scratching the back of his head. "Uh... yes? She was in my year, right? Pretty. Kinda nerdy. I might be confusing her with someone else, though. It was a long time ago."  
  
"Really? I never met her. Did you ever speak with her?"  
  
"Maybe. I don't recall. She wasn't hanging out with any of my friends, as far as I remember. Can I ask... why? What's this about?"  
  
"I'm drafting her employment papers as we speak. She'll be joining the task force as a scientific advisor. I was just wondering if you might've met her before."  
  
"Oh, sweet. Nice to see we're all doing so well. We went to a good school." Kaji says cheerfully, for lack of anything else to say.  
  
"Thanks, Kaji. Oh, and if we're on this topic, can I have a PO assigned to Dr Akagi? She'll need some guidance when she gets started and a PO as a fist point of call might be a good idea."  
  
Misato doesn't miss Kaji's eyebrow rise at the mention of Ritsuko's title.  
  
"Sure, yeah. Who do you want?"  
  
"Someone good with computers? Dr Akagi will be doing a lot of computational analysis, I was told. We need someone who'll help set her up and troubleshoot with her. A full time thing."  
  
"How about PO Maya Ibuki? She's done computer science undergrad before the Academy."  
  
"Sure. That should work out rather nicely. Will you make sure her assigned workload gets cleared, starting tomorrow morning? I'll handle it from there. Thanks." With that, Misato turns back to her computer screen, and Kaji takes his leave with a polite "Ma'am".  
  
__  
  
It turns out that Ritsuko's been busy preparing the DNA samples for sequencing at the research institute she works at. Misato is pleasantly surprised with her swift work, daring not to underestimate the hardships that lab work entails. In between performing a full autopsy and reporting on it in record time, arranging her handover at the Medical Examiner's Office and processing three DNA samples for sequencing, Dr Akagi must've been stretched thin. Misato is confident that once she gets Ritsuko started at the Gate, things will become much more manageable for both of them, not to mention less stressful.  
  
Misato offers to pick her up from the research institute bright and early in the morning. She suspects that the early start at the lab was rather a late finish for Ritsuko, and she feels a little guilty for it. Ritsuko gets into the passenger seat looking as good as always, and not in the foul mood that Misato would've been in after a night's worth of work. She looks over at the woman and she can't help the smile breaking over her features. She's a nice sight to behold at 8am, when the winter sky is still pretty much dark and the cold seeps through the thick fabric of their coats.  
  
Misato clears her throat, biting back a cheesy remark on her nice looks. Ritsuko works for her now. When they're on duty, some semblance of professionalism should be maintained.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Hi." Ritsuko returns her smile, and takes in Misato's form behind the steering wheel with an interested, attentive eye. "This is exciting. I've never been to Sakurada Gate HQ before."  
  
"Really? Don't get your hopes up. It's not the most glamorous place to be."  
  
"Compared to the Medical Examiner's Office, it must be downright luxurious."  
  
Misato laughs. "Yeah, when you put it like that, you might enjoy it slightly better than your usual place. Though the research labs don't look half bad either." She points at the research facility in front of them, and Ritsuko smiles wryly, glancing over at the glass paned building.  
  
"Yeah. I don't get a lot of time in here these days."  
  
They settle in comfortable silence as Misato pulls away from the curb. This is nice, she decides inwardly. All very adult and nice.  
  
"I need to tell you something." Ritsuko says at length, watching Misato's profile from the corner of her eye.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I apologise in advance for not discussing it with you first. I collected DNA material from the fourth victim during the post-mortem and prepared the sample. Now I've got all four of them queued up for the sequencer. It should take a couple of days at most."  
  
Misato hums. "Yeah, see what I meant about getting you to come work for us on the record? No more of this stuff. I need to know everything that goes on, as it goes on. Small mistakes could cost us the operation and our careers. And some good, old fashioned jail time. From now on, we do things by the book. Let's make sure we log the sample from the fourth child, shall we?"  
  
"It's your call, Detective. This is a new world to me." Ritsuko says pleasantly.  
  
Of course. "I have assigned a uniformed officer to assist you at all times. She'll be conducting your induction and getting you stared. Don't worry, it's not as complicated as you might imagine. And I'll be around the whole time."  
  
The trip to the city centre is all too short at this hour. Misato parks the car in her usual spot and turns to look at her companion with what she hopes is a reassuring smile. "Thanks for coming on board. You don't know how much I appreciate this."  
  
"Don't mention it. I'm eager to get started." Ritsuko makes for the door handle when Misato speaks up, with a cheer in her voice she can't contain. "And Ritsuko...?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Misato can't quite get enough of Ritsuko's swift attentiveness towards her, can't get enough of the way Ritsuko's cold, calculating eyes soften when they meet Misato's own.  
  
"Did you know we went to the same school?"  
  
Ritsuko smiles a secretive smile. "Of course. I came to some of your softball matches. I believe you became team captain the year of my graduation. You were good at leadership, even then."  
  
Misato feels her cheeks blushing, as she desperately fights to keep her chaotic feelings under control. "I had no idea."  
  
"I didn't think you did." Ritsuko's voice is not unkind. Misato can't help but reach out with an awkward hand, and half-pats, half-caresses Ritsuko's forearm for a brief second that seems to stretch to eternity. An eternity where it's just her and this woman, alone in the whole world, staring at each other trying to figure out this strange thing between them.  
  
After the moment passes, Ritsuko pulls her arm away sharply, looking around at the empty street. She then shoots Misato an apologetic smile. "Someone might see. It's not wise to be so friendly publicly. I work for you now, after all." She dips her head and looks up at Misato through her lashes rather shyly.  
  
Misato refuses to let this sting any more than it should. "Friendly, you say?"  
  
"I dare not imagine a public display of... other things. Not here, Misato. We can't have narrowly avoided losing our jobs due to running an illegal operation, only to lose them for inappropriate workplace behaviour." she says, struggling to hide a smile.  
  
Misato laughs. "You have nothing to worry about, doctor."  
  
They are swiftly stepping through the revolving doors of the Metropolitan police HQ at Sakurada Gate when Misato remembers to say, almost as an afterthought. "Dr Akagi, one more thing. My boss, Commissioner Gendo Ikari... he's not the nicest man. He's a little grumpy, usually, and quite hard to bargain with. If he gives you any trouble at all, absolutely do blame everything on me. The good part about this task force is that I am the detective in charge and everyone here answers to me. They won't get in your way. If my boss gets a carrot stuck up his arse, please do let me know and I'll deal with him. Sounds fair enough?"  
  
Ritsuko's businesslike persona, in and of itself, is quite appealing. She nods in understanding. "Of course, ma'am. Now let's catch some bad guys, or whatever it is you say around here."  
  
Misato fights a smile throughout the day. She's definitely more pleased with the situation than she should be, considering there's a child murderer on the streets.  
  
__  
  
  
A week goes by in a heartbeat. Misato notes that Ritsuko seems to have settled into the task force quite well, and have struck a good rapport with her new colleagues, as well as the PO, Maya Ibuki. Ritsuko's work is extremely laborious and resource-intensive. Other leads are unfortunately few and not as fruitful as she would like, so Misato doesn't mind investing into the high-performance computer Ritsuko needs, nor in the extra time that Maya should be paid for, as she works shoulder to shoulder with Ritsuko. Luckily, Ritsuko doesn't mention anything about any lab time required. She duly logs the sequencing of Minato's DNA sample on the books, and lab work isn't brought up again.  
  
One early morning, Ritsuko and Misato are alone on the whole floor assigned to the killer K task force. She warns Misato that the computational analysis will probably take a while to get to grips with, and apologises for the lag. She sits cross-legged in front of her several computer screens, cup of coffee full and steaming on the desk. She tuns her chair to face Misato, who is leaning against the doorframe casually, arms folded over her chest, a smile stuck on her face at the sight of her very own scientist at work.  
  
"You have nothing to apologise for, Dr Akagi. I have a lot of respect for what you're doing here, all by yourself. I don't expect miracles."  
  
Ritsuko smiles, not a hint of tiredness in her eyes despite the early hour. "There's no one around here."  
  
Misato makes a show of looking around at the utter stillness of the open space floor. "So it seems."  
  
Almost without realising, she finds herself stood before Ritsuko, leaning down to steal a kiss. Ritsuko responds willingly, and they kiss leisurely.  
  
When Ritsuko pulls away, she's smiling playfully. "Good morning to you too."  
  
"Since our morning the other day was sadly interrupted, I thought I'd make up for my rude departure." Misato can't resist the temptation. She can't resist Ritsuko's modest flirting, and she can't resist the urge to be near her. Without the lab coat she wore at the Medical Examiner's Office, Misato can benefit from the sight of Ritsuko's outfit, consisting of a form-fitting, turtleneck blouse assorted with a short, almost mini skirt. It's those legs. Those legs, in that revealing skirt, are _criminal_.  
  
Ritsuko shrugs at Misato's words. "What can I say, work calling. Quite literally."  
  
"Sadly."  
  
"Now you have me here." The playful glimmer in Ritsuko's eyes says what her words do not. Yes, Misato has here here now, and she quite likes it that way. She hopes the feeling is mutual.  
  
"Well, I really hope the time you spend here proves to be stimulating and insightful for you. I hope you get some use out of coming to work here on a high-profile case." Secretly, Misato hopes Ritsuko doesn't regret ever meeting her at the restaurant that very first night. She's come a long way since then: she's now in over her head.  
  
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be. Frankly, I was growing tired of hanging out with the dead. It's not exactly my vocation." she says, forlornly.  
  
"You are a researcher, aren't you?"  
  
"Yes. You could say that. Though I am unfortunately no longer very active in science."  
  
"What happened to your scientific career, if you don't mind me asking?"  
  
Ritsuko smiles rather sadly. It's obvious to Misato that this is a sensitive subject, and she tries her best to tread carefully. "I don't mind at all. My research was funded by the government, who've decided to halt the payment schedule midway through the grant. I couldn't do much about it at the time. I tried to appeal the decision and came back empty-handed. Now I work part-time as an associate in the pathogenetics cluster of research groups at the Institute. It's not much, but it allows me to keep in touch with a chapter of my life that probably should have closed. Truthfully, I'm grateful to be here doing research for you. If anything, you're doing _me_ a favour by employing me, Misato."  
  
"Your grant getting withdrawn... that doesn't sound right. I'm certain you could sue the state and come back with plenty of money to pick up where you left off. Maybe even start your own research group. With your permission, I will put you in touch with the best legal professionals I can find. I am sure that a chat with the right lawyer will put you in a better position to decide whether pursuing a lawsuit is the right decision for you."  
  
"Oh, Misato, I really couldn't-"  
  
"Consider it as compensation for storming into your life and bringing you into my world. Working in the NPA at this level means that I know some damn good lawyers out there. Just a chat, on me. Then you can decide if there's a chance for you to go back to the lab once you are done here."  
  
"Misato-" Ritsuko's voice almost dies in her throat. She composes herself quickly thereafter, and clears her throat before speaking up. "You're too kind. Thank you. I can't possibly put into words how much this means to me. My career in research... it's something that I think about every day."  
  
Misato smiles widely. "Well, maybe there's something we can do about that."  
  
In the evening, they end up making out against the side of Misato's SUV before heading home for the night, any witnesses be damned. Tucked away from pedestrians and the Gate's windows in a convenient blind spot against the car door, Misato drinks in the scent of Ritsuko, and revels in the taste of her mouth. All too soon, they part for the night. Misato watches Ritsuko get into her car and drive away, admiring the slightly disturbed locks of hair on her head and the red, swollen mouth, with lipstick smeared all over that Ritsuko is apparently content not to fix before she gets home. It puts a satisfied smile on Misato's face.  
  
Though the investigation is not going any better than it had gone in the past, when the first three children had been murdered, Misato's spirits are up. She hopes that whatever answers Ritsuko will find in the DNA of the victims, they might shed a light on the circumstances of the children's death. As a preliminary lead, Misato has her task force discreetly scouting all known researchers and clinicians in Tokyo having access to viral vectors. The manpower is hard at work compiling files upon files of background checks, alibis and surveillance data. Whoever the devious killer K is, Misato will find them.  
  
__  
  
It can almost be said that a routine has been established at HQ. Ritsuko works hard, perhaps even harder than some of the detectives on the case. Misato checks in on her nearly every day, though her schedule is busy with killer K case related duties, court hearings for her recently closed cases and managerial duties within the NPA. Superintendent is hard work, Misato admits. It's harder than anything she's done before, and she'd spent quite a few years as Detective Inspector before fast-tracking miraculously through Detective Chief Inspector to Superintendent. Though she had assumed the role for a couple of months now, it was still very much an accommodation period, where the position still felt like an ill-fitting glove on her hand. Days are incredibly busy and challenging, and often leave Misato craving a break.  
  
Nights are often short and lonely, though a couple of weeks into the investigation, Misato dropped all pretence of trying to maintain a professional distance to Ritsuko. She takes her home whenever feasible, and most times she does they have sex. Though other times, they simply talk about nothing and everything until they fall asleep with exhaustion, still wearing their work clothes. It's pleasant and juvenile, a feeling Misato hasn't had since the Academy. Even then, she was a very serious, single-minded young woman, and her distractions were scarce and far between. With Ritsuko, it feels different. She feels ease and comfort around her, which she has never experienced in her emotionally stunted, career driven adult life. It's the sort of companionship that Misato believes is almost too good to be true. Were it not for the serial killer on the loose, the scenario would be almost idyllic.  
  
Well, perhaps not quite. There's only so much romance that can transpire between a doctor/scientist and a cop in the middle of the case of her career.  
  
The passion in their relationship builds more and more every day. Despite the exhaustion, the pressure of secrecy and the limited time they have alone, Misato feels high on hormones around Ritsuko. Their encounters are mostly confined between the four walls of Misato's flat, where Misato is sure they are not being watched or followed. But sometimes, she can't help herself. By the end of March, Misato's had Ritsuko twice in the bathroom on the top floor at the Gate, and memorably, one late night, on the backseat of her SUV. Thank god for tinted windows. Misato had Ritsuko riding her face while she was flat on her back in the cramped space of the car, and it felt delightful to feel the other woman taking her pleasure from her. Ritsuko's mind and body were torn between the shame of doing something like that where anyone might come near and see, and the intense pleasure of Misato's tongue inside her, the light suction of her lips against her clitoris. Misato felt immensely powerful even as her own skin was on fire and her jaw was aching, because Ritsuko was going faster and _faster_. Whether is was to increase her pleasure or to rush towards the end of such a shameful act, or both, it didn't matter to Misato in the slightest. What mattered was the power she had over this powerful woman, and all the ways in which Misato got to dominate such a strong, untameable character as Ritsuko Akagi's.  
  
So, in other words, life was good. With Ritsuko in her bed and a case that was going forwards, albeit slowly, Misato had very little to complain about.  
  
__  
  
The cherry trees in Tokyo are in full bloom and the weather has turned sunnier and warmer by the time the task force reconvene for their third large update meeting. Misato, as the meeting chair and head of the operation, is working hard to make the meeting run smoothly, hoping every single investigator is getting valuable information out of it. Perhaps bizarrely, no fifth child had been discovered to date. This was a very atypical killer indeed. The autumn spree had led the investigators to create a profile that is becoming more and more ill-fitting by the day. After the case closed in November, Misato foolishly believed that if it ever reopened, it would be a fast paced, intense kind of chase against the clock. It turned out not to be the case.  
  
Today's meeting is all about revising the profile of the killer.  
  
Misato addresses the crowd firmly, confidently. "Just to recap, everybody. There are some essential parts of the profile that we have every reason to retain. Firstly, we are dealing with an organised killer. Or killers."  
  
The point sparked some discussion and from there, a long conversation ensued about the resources at the disposal of this killer, which seemed to be inexhaustible.  
  
One of the DIs spoke up: "Perhaps the reason the killer hadn't struck again is precisely related to deplenishing resources. Am I correct in assuming that, in addition to the costs of acquiring and disposing of the vehicle, there would be a further significant cost of carrying out the "intervention" causing the death of the victims?"  
  
Misato nods towards the far end of the conference room, where Ritsuko is stood against the wall, with Maya Ibuki duly on her side. "Dr Akagi?"  
  
"It depends on the killer's circumstances. If the perpetrator is affiliated with an institution which has access to the resources, such as equipment and consumables, the cost is essentially non-existent to the individual. And I expect it would also be difficult to trace and assign to one person within said institution. However, if the killer is acting outside any professional affiliation, I expect that the cost associated with the induced death in the victims would be quite large." Ritsuko says to the room, doing a good job at placing emphasis on the key words of her answer. Good communicator, then, Misato remarks to herself. Some people really _do_ have it all, don't they?  
  
"Thank you, doctor. This brings me to my second point, the killer's background. We have reasons to believe the killer has a clinical or scientific background, to be able to carry out such an advanced, highly experimental form of euthanasia. Are we leaning more towards clinician or non-clinician, Dr Akagi?"  
  
"Difficult to tell. Our killer could be both doctor and scientist, to an extent. Perhaps it could be someone with at least minimal clinical training, like a nurse or paramedic. In my experience, someone whose expertise relies purely on lab work would definitely struggle working with something larger than a mouse."  
  
At that, another of the DIs addresses Ritsuko with interest. "Dr Akagi, would you say it would be worth widening the scope of our searching to medical personnel such a paramedics and military physicians, and looking for experience with experimental work?"  
  
Ristuko nods. "It sounds sensible to me, yes."  
  
"I agree with DI Nakamura. Let's make this a top priority from today, shall we?" Misato says, before moving swiftly on. The rest of the meeting progresses to similar productivity levels, to her delight. It's nice to enjoy things going to plan from time to time.  
  
Misato's high spirits are short-lived, because Kaji decides to more or less corner her after the meeting, insinuating himself along to the short trip through the building back to her office.  
  
"Ritsuko Akagi, huh? Quite a character." he remarks. "Gave me the creeps a little bit in there."  
  
"Thought you guys have been getting along just fine these past weeks. What happened to that? You tried to sleep with her and she didn't take it as well as you'd hoped? Really, Kaji, you should stop being so surprised when that happens. I mean, come on. It's almost physically painful for you to behave like normal person."  
  
"Very amusing, Superintendent, but that's not what I meant. You know when we were discussing the profile of the perpetrator?"  
  
"Oh, you mean the whole two hour meeting?"  
  
"I mean when you gave the podium to Ritsuko Akagi and she made a show of implying she could've killed those people herself for all we know. That's what I mean."  
  
Misato's brows knit into a frown. They're taking the lift now to the task force's primary floor, and after the doors close securely, Misato turns to face Kaji, almost enraged. "What the fuck are you talking about?"  
  
"Didn't it sound really suspicious?"  
  
"Fucking no? No wonder you're such a bad cop, Kaji. The few instincts that you _do_ have are so wrong, it's almost hilarious."  
  
"Did you check her alibi?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
Kaji has the nerve to look her in the eyes. He doesn't budge, instead crosses his arms over his chest. Shit, he's not joking. He's serious.  
  
"Sergeant, who do you think you're talking to?"  
  
"I'm merely flagging up a concern, Superintendent."  
  
"You dare question me _?_ You think I'm some faint-hearted _amateur_ who needs to be told by a sergeant how the code of conduct works in this place? That woman has an alibi for Minato's drop off, thank you very much. She's been vetted through the proper official channels and successfully passed the screening for any potential involvement in this or any other active case. Who the fuck do you think you are?"  
  
"Is her alibi logged for the night of the fourth child's drop off?"  
  
"I should fucking _think so_."  
  
"I suggest that you better check, Superintendent. She's not what she looks like. I don't trust her."  
  
"Like that makes one bit of a difference. What, do you think you've outsmarted me, the Commissioner, _and_ allegedly the killer of four children? Really?"  
  
When the lift stops and the doors open, Misato storms out, almost red-faced with fury. "We'll talk about your little show of disrespect later. You'll be lucky if you get to keep your job. Back to work, now. And stop spreading nonsense around."  
  
Misato's too far out of earshot to be certain, but she thinks she hears Kaji mumbling "Who says I trust the _Commissioner_ ". It's either a product of her or Kaji's hyperactive imagination, both of which should be ignored at all times.  
  
__  
  
The next day, Ritsuko asks that she get some lab time. She says she's nearly in the validation stages of her research and wet lab work in essential at this point.  
  
"Can you give me any preliminary results? It won't affect my decision to extend your permit to cover work at the Institute, but it would be helpful to speed up the review process by my boss. And it would give me an idea of what we're up against here." Misato says, in a level, firm voice.  
  
Ritsuko seems unconcerned by the request. "I can write up a summary of our results so far, if that's helpful."  
  
Misato notes with slight annoyance that she's started referring to herself and the PO working with her, Maya, as a team. In fairness, Maya is working full time on Ritsuko's research, less and less in a support role with each passing week. She's moved on to actual investigation work, though Ritsuko reassured Misato that Maya will not be conducting any science per se. What she's doing is assisting a senior scientist with routine investigations and repetitive tasks. Misato noted on multiple occasions that Maya was apparently thrilled about her new work with Ritsuko. She supposes she should be grateful and thank the gods. Maya's willingness and skill just made a difficult thing much easier.  
  
"I'd prefer you to walk me through it, if that's no trouble. I'll handle any reporting on your progress for the purpose of getting you approved for lab work, don't worry. Just give me an idea of what you've been up to."  
  
"Certainly." Ritsuko agrees easily. They are in front of Ritsuko's large, multi-screen setup, dotted with post-its and paper scraps. Ritsuko's lab book rests atop the pile on her desk, supreme. Pity Misato wouldn't understand a word of it. Maya is working at her own station a couple of feet away, and Ritsuko kindly asks her to take a break and leave the room, which Maya agrees to without discussion.  
  
"I don't want to disclose any of this information to anyone who's not you." Ritsuko explains, and unlocks her desktop.  
  
"Maya... she doesn't understand a word of this science stuff either?"  
  
"Thankfully, no. Or at the very least, she wouldn't understand unless explained to her in no uncertain terms, which I'm about to do for you now. It's better this way. Misato... this could be enormous. That's why I need to get into the lab and make sure that what I'm seeing here isn't just a weird computational artefact."  
  
Misato leans over her shoulder, supporting herself on the back of Ritsuko's chair. "Shoot".  
  
Ritsuko pulls up what appear to be some nucleic acid sequences, colour coded for each victim. Katsushika's sequence is orange, Nerima's is red, Shinigawa's is light purple and Minato's is dark purple. "It took a long time to get these sequences to read clearly, and the alignment was difficult to get right. It's something I've never seen before. While trying to align the genomes of the four victims, I noticed that a perfect alignment was... well. How do I say this? I want to say impossible, but that sounds misleading. In brief, I was not able to match the sequences from any of the four samples to the human genome. They're similar enough, but not completely."  
  
Misato frowns. "What does that mean?"  
  
"I don't know yet. Look at this." Ritsuko stacks the four traces on top of one another, shifting them just enough for Misato to be able to discern each individual one. She zooms into one of the regions on what Misato can see labelled as chromosome 1. "See this enlarged region? It's the same."  
  
"What do you mean, it's the same? What does _same_ mean in this context?"  
  
"It means that all four of them have this very specific, highly conserved region on this chromosome. Even factoring in the noise from the sequencer and the expected variation across different samples, this region is identical for each victim. I am using five biological replicates for each of them. This region is the exact same for each victim's five replicates, and across victims. I randomised the replicates and performed a computational sorting using a multi-layer neural network that took a couple of days to process. By doing that, I hoped the neural network would be able to sort the twenty replicates into four distinct groups, one belonging to each victim. I thought this way, a smarter system than me might be able to reassure me that the victim's sequences are actually distinct. And it failed. The neural network sorted all the victim's genetic material in this region into the same category."  
  
"That's not normal, is it?"  
  
"It's impossible. It's impossible that four distinct people would not undergo any recombination at all within a region spanning nearly 7 million base pairs."  
  
"Is that quite long, then?"  
  
"It's enormous. It also means that my initial theory was wrong. No viral vector would be able to deliver 7 million base pairs to the organism. A viral vector would usually cary about about two thousand times fewer base pairs."  
  
Oh. Well then. Misato realises that they have now more questions to answer than they started with.  
  
"This huge region, what does it do, usually?"  
  
"I don't know. I couldn't get an alignment to the human genome that was good enough for a sound scientific analysis, because there's another problem... this chromosome is shorter than it should be. Most of the genes I expect to find are actually there, apart from this region, which is just gibberish. No one's characterised any of these sequences before. At the moment, I'm running a program to try to match some of the sequences in this region to known genes and other constructs, using a Metropolis algorithm. It will take a long time to reach completion, even though I was very stringent on the importance sampling criteria."  
  
Misato is feeling a little lost already. What did this all _mean_? "How could this have happened?"  
  
"You're not going to like this. It's going to make me sound like a nutter."  
  
"Ritsuko, what is it?"  
  
"It's pretty much impossible to my knowledge, but here's my two cents. It looks like these organisms have been... modified."  
  
"What, like man-made modifications?"  
  
Ritsuko nods carefully. "...Yes. I realise this implies the use of genome editing technology that doesn't even exist to my knowledge. Or it could be that they were engineered from birth, which again implies an even more absurd leap of logic."  
  
"Well then, you're not entirely sure either is the case, are you? You want to go to the lab and check?"  
  
"Yes... only in a way, though. In a way, we can never be too certain how this happened. If we're willing to accept that 15 years ago some engineered babies were created, we should also be willing to accept that ungodly powerful ad-hoc gene editing technology might exist today. We just don't know of it yet. These children could be the testament of this experimentation having taken place, which might have resulted in their death."  
  
"This is crazy." Misato whispers, lost.  
  
Ritsuko stares at her with sharp eyes. "It's worse than crazy. Much, much worse."  
  
"Okay, let's take a step back here." Misato says, standing to her full height and actually taking a physical step away. Ritsuko turns her chair to face her, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. Misato gathers her thoughts for a moment, then speaks, her voice an almost-whisper: "Say this is right. You go to the lab, you get your experimental validation. What next? Are we any closer to establishing how this modification led to their death?"  
  
"No, quite the opposite. If this is true, we'd be several years of lab work away from proving anything to do with toxicity and death. It would take a whole team of seasoned scientists in a well equipped laboratory, several studies on animals spanning six months at a time, and a lot of luck, to get this figured out in a couple of years. It's completely novel. The world's never seen anything like this before."  
  
"Fuck."  
  
Ritsuko, ever the voice of ration, quickly pulls Misato from the sudden despair she's feeling, which she knows must be written all over her face. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Let me go to the lab and get this figured out. It very well could be that this is just a processing artefact, which further experimental characterisation can prove."  
  
"Okay. How long will you need in the lab?"  
  
"I'm sorry to be unhelpful, but I don't know. Three weeks at the minimum? If I had any help, it would go faster. But there's no help. There's just you and me for now, and I advise that we keep it that way, unless we want this to blow up in our faces."  
  
"Of course. Can't Maya help?"  
  
"In the lab?"  
  
"Yeah." Misato hates to admit it, but she'd rather have Maya to help along than drive Ritsuko to premature breakdown into this investigation.  
  
"...maybe. Though it'll be hard to hide from her any longer that we have four times as many samples as we've declared officially that we have."  
  
"Wait, she doesn't know?" Misato is dumbfounded, both at the surreal thought that Maya has no idea there's more than one victim's data she's been processing, and at the realisation she's never bothered to handle this. As superintendent, it should have been her pressing priority to successfully launder her dirty evidence. Misato rubs her face forcefully with the heel of her palm.  
  
"No. She doesn't. That won't work in the lab, though. The risk of cross-contamination would be too high, unless the person performing the experiments knew to be vigilant at all times."  
  
"Tell her everything and downplay not having disclosed it before. I'll put all samples on record. Somehow. I'll find a way. Fuck. How did I not think about this already?" she says, smacking herself rather forcefully in the face.  
  
Ritsuko is by her side in an instant, prying her hands away from her face. "Shh. It's okay. It's all going to be okay. Just let me handle the science and we'll sort everything out. Right?"  
  
Suddenly, for the first time in her adult life, Misato craves a hug to comfort her. The realisation that she almost _needs_ it, from Ritsuko and nobody else, shocks her. This is not how she got where she is. She's not a weakling or a faint-hearted idiot. She's a fighter. She doesn't need comfort or support or kindness.  
  
Misato fights the urge to flinch away from Ritsuko's reassuring hand on her arm. She's rather thankful they're in a professional setting, with people just beyond the open door of Ritsuko's server room and work station. She feels very uncomfortable, abnormally so. When did Ritsuko's companionship become more about the emotional comfort and less about the sex? Misato shudders at the thought of her encounter with the strange blonde girl at the bar, at how hard she'd fucked her. She thought that it was all about.  
  
Clearly not. The revelation disturbs her more than it could ever excite her. There is no time for such things. Not right now. She needs to get herself together _immediately_.  
  
__  
  
  
Ritsuko's at the Institute all day every day. Misato welcomes the distance, and even ignores some of Ritsuko's calls when she can find a convenient excuse to do so. Sorry, I was in court. Sorry, I was in a meeting. Sorry, I was running late for an interview with HNK on the killer K case. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Ritsuko still calls her every other day to check in, apparently unbothered by Misato's rude manner. Maybe she can't tell at all, Misato hopes against hope.  
  
Eventually, Ritsuko stops calling with updates. When Misato's mobile is rather silent for nearly a week, she realises how royally she's fucked up. She's stunned at her own selfishness and childish struggle to navigate her emotional life. Misato feels stuck. She's never had to apologise before, not really. To anyone, ever. Honest apologies require vulnerability, which Misato is not a fan of and never has been. Vulnerability doesn't get you anywhere.  
  
Her mind quickly forms a strategy. Being a born strategist is what has saved Misato's skin more times than she can count. She decides to go and see Ritsuko at the Institute and apologise for her behaviour. Misato had some officers in the task force investigate wether any of the child victims were conceived using in vitro fertilisation, in hopes that if there's a record that they were, it might explain how the children came to be... well. Engineered. Misato's plan is to wait for the report from the task force officers, and then go to see Ritsuko at the Institute to give her the news. She will blurt out the apology that she needs to blurt out. And it will all be fine again. Right?  
  
Sure enough, the officers report to her soon enough that medical records show the second, third and fourth child were conceived using IVF. No evidence on the first child, but that was to be expected. Katsushika was a tough one to obtain any historical data on. Misato jumps in her car shortly thereafter. On a whim, she stops by at a florist to pick up a bouquet of flowers. She's never done anything like this before, and it has her feeling really antsy. The spring has brought the most beautiful flowers one can imagine to the florist's shop. She hopes that Ritsuko will see that she's genuine and she's never meant to act like a dick. It's late afternoon when she flashes her badge to the receptionist at the Institute and asks to be let into Dr Akagi's lab, flowers in hand. She smiles widely at the young girl at the reception, and it works like a charm. The girl leads her up the stairs and scans her security card to let her in lab 305, where Ritsuko is known to carry out the majority of her work. She warns that without any protective equipment, Misato should not touch anything in the lab. Misato thanks her and the girl quickly returns to her post.  
  
Misato steps into the huge, long room with neon lights and many aisles, and shelves packed with colourful bottles, petri dishes, pipettes and other funky lab things. She can't see Ritsuko, but she can hear her voice instructing Maya on how to do some task. Misato approaches stealthily, wanting to surprise her. The other scientists in the lab look at Misato with disinterest, not too bothered by her lack of lab coat or gloves, and are quick to turn their attention back to their experiments. Misato flashes them her badge distractedly as she makes her way to the source of Ritsuko's voice. Through some fairly empty shelves, she manages to spot Ritsuko and Maya from a distance, and what she sees makes her blood run cold in her veins.  
  
There is Maya, working on something on the bench in front of her. And there is Ritsuko, enveloping Maya from behind in what can be best described as a bear hug. Ritsuko's hands are over Maya's own, guiding her movements, and Ritsuko's taller form is slouched over the smaller woman, her head next to Maya's, over her right shoulder, as she speaks her instructions.  
  
Right. Misato freezes for the briefest second before storming over, never one to back down from any confrontation. She clears her throat when she's near enough to be heard, over the noises of the machines in the lab. "Dr Akagi. PO Ibuki."  
  
Ritsuko turns to her and her eyes widen in surprise. Misato watches Ritsuko avidly as she disentangles herself from Maya's form, and as she takes in the bouquet of spring flowers in Misato's hands. She has the decency to look away after briefly meeting Misato's cruel, hard gaze.  
  
"Superintendent Katsuragi!" Maya squeaks out, her cheeks flushing an embarrassing, hot red.  
  
Misato ignores her completely, eyes still on Ritsuko. "Dr Akagi. Step outside with me for a moment, please."  
  
They walk back the way Misato came, and Misato takes the chance to dump the flowers in a medical waste bag near the door. Ritsuko watches her mutely, her eyes taking in the gesture. Misato doesn't underestimate Ritsuko's intellect enough to imagine the woman hadn't realised those were for her.  
  
Once outside the lab, Misato wastes no time getting to the point. "My investigators found that Nerima, Shinagawa and Minato were conceived via IVF. Just thought to let you know as soon as I had that information. I imagine this means there was an opportunity for the children to be engineered by man before birth." She hopes her tone is stern. She makes sure that her face is a perfect mask of neutrality, even though an explosion of rage and disgust is wreaking havoc in her belly. She wants to scream and swear out loud, but she doesn't. There's no point. She's brought it on herself.  
  
Misato can't shake the feeling that perhaps it's better this way. Maya Ibuki wouldn't ignore Ritsuko's calls. Maya Ibuki wouldn't be afraid to get too close, too dependent on this gorgeous woman.  
  
"I'll expect you at the Gate the very next day you are done here. I hope work's going well, Dr Akagi."  
  
With that, Misato storms down the stairs, not awaiting Ritsuko's reply, nor wanting to be in her presence any longer. Dread sinks into her belly when she hears Ritsuko's heels clicking down the stairs in her wake.  
  
"Misato! Misato, wait!" Ritsuko shouts. "Give me a chance to explain."  
  
Feeling foolish, she stops midway to the ground floor, letting Ritsuko catch up and join her in the cramped space of the stairwell. Ritsuko descends to stand face to face with Misato on the same step, and Misato can't help flinching away to put some space between them. She hits the wall, pushes into it.  
  
"There's nothing to explain. Really. There isn't."  
  
"No, of course there is. What happened earlier, with Maya... it wasn't what it looked like. Please believe me." Ritsuko pleads, seeming genuine. Misato can't spot any signs of dishonesty in her demeanour.  
  
"And what if it was?" Misato shoots back before she can think better of it.  
  
"It wasn't." she says decisively.  
  
Misato says nothing, her brain in overdrive trying to concoct an escape plan from this situation she doesn't want to be in. Ritsuko reaches for her hands, stopping before making contact. "May I?"  
  
Misato's skin is crawling with invisible worms, telling her to run. But she can't run, she's frozen to the spot. Awkward moments pass between them and Ritsuko waits, patiently. Eventually, Misato musters a weak nod. When she gets her permission, she grasps Misato's wrists in a secure, comforting hold. Misato then melts. Just like that. Like sorcery. Like a supernatural power had effectively lobotomised her. "I wouldn't, Misato. What we have when we're together, it's... different. It's new to me and I don't want to give it up. I care about you."  
  
Misato nods stupidly. She doesn't find the words to say what she thinks, what she feels. _I feel the same, Ritsuko. I care about you too. I'm sorry I tried to ignore you. Please forgive me._  
  
Ritsuko smiles gently and soon takes her leave in silence, climbing the stairs back to her lab and her work.  
  
Misato stays there for longer than she cares to admit, embarrassed at her uselessness, as a woman and as a cop. Ritsuko is carrying this case on her back, the sole investigator pursuing a valuable lead. Furthermore, she's apparently carrying Misato and her bouts of insanity on her back as well.  
  
She gets roaringly drunk back at her place. Since she hasn't brought Ritsuko back in a couple of weeks, the whole place is a mess. With no incentive to tidy and clean, it looks like the den of a 15 year old gamer, if said 15 year old also had a drinking problem. She passes out in her work clothes, no Ritsuko next to her.  
  
__


	3. Finale

The cherry trees have started shedding their blossoms. The weather is still moody, changing from day to day, in a typical Tokyo spring. Ritsuko's first month worth of lab work is due to expire soon, and Misato, as the head of the operation, has to start making arrangements for an extension if one shall be required. She hasn't heard from Ritsuko in the past couple of days, though that was hardly unusual anymore. After the "incident" at the lab, Misato had started reaching out little by little, and every time she was met with either a neutral response or the slightest of encouragements. Misato judges Ritsuko's attitude as very fair, all things considered. She's carrying out research work of an importance and magnitude typically shouldered by whole teams of decorated scientists, against the clock. Misato doesn't wish to disturb her anymore with her childish tantrums, though a part of her regrets having lost Ritsuko's company over something so _stupid._

If Misato was truly so afraid of emotional attachment, why had she pursued Ritsuko so closely? She asks herself this question, more or less seriously, quite frequently these days. Why had she told Ritsuko, during their endless late night conversations since she joined the task force, about her father, her childhood, her journey through the NPA and her grievances with the system? Why was she getting so much comfort at the mere sight of her?

None of those things really matter for now. With the downright _frightening_ possibility of a baby-engineering madman on the loose, things were getting pretty tense for Misato at the Gate. To her surprise (and relief, followed closely by dread), Maya Ibuki had started turning up at the Gate a couple of days ago, reporting that Dr Akagi no longer required her assistance in the lab and she was now available for further duties in the task force. She couldn't quite meet Misato's eyes, and Misato genuinely couldn't understand why. She is pretty sure Maya wouldn't have thought anything of her and Ritsuko stepping outside to handle confidential matters. Perhaps Maya was naturally a shy girl and was rather embarrassed to be caught in close proximity with a colleague. Misato shrugged her off and allocated her to some leftover CCTV footage that was marked as uncovered on the task force's pooled checklist, and that was the end of dealing with PO Ibuki for her.

A rather harsh update meeting with Commissioner Gendo Ikari leaves Misato in a pretty foul mood. Ikari was once again displeased with Misato's progress and gave his first (and probably last) warning that the task force would be shut down unless a productive lead was going to be pursued. Misato expects that the next meeting with the Commissioner will result in the indefinite termination of the killer K investigation. She hopes that whatever Ritsuko finds, it will at lest keep the task force up and running. She'll be damned if she's going to let Ikari shut her down on grounds of lacking evidence, again. This time, there's evidence and she'll prove it to him.

She decides to screw her boring, managerial tasks for the rest of the day and head to the NPA's shooting grounds just outside the city for some firearm training she'd been postponing. Though she exercises religiously to keep in shape for field work, she feels less and less confident in her combat and defensive shooting skills as time goes on. She sighs, thinking longingly of the Academy. Those were the days. Less paperwork, more violence.

It's late evening by the time she heads back to her car outside the shooting range. Her aim definitely needed the exercise. By the end, Misato is pleased that she had regained the level of skill she used to have as a freshly graduated Academy student. When she gets to her car, she notices with horror that she'd missed nearly a dozen phone calls over the past two hours. Shit, shit, shit. She did designate DI Nakamura as her emergency replacement in case she ever went AWOL, but anything could have happened. She quickly unlocks her phone and sighs in relief when she realises all the calls are from Ritsuko's personal mobile. No fresh body, then. Thank God.

She dials Ritsuko back as she pulls up from the parking lot and starts driving back into the city. When she picks up, the good doctor's voice sounds frantic. "Misato, where in God's name have you been?"

"I was at the shooting range doing some mandatory practice. I couldn't keep an eye on my phone. What's happened?"

"I need to see you immediately. Tell me where the shooting range is, I'll come to you."

"I'm actually on my way back to central Tokyo, should I meet you at yours?"

"No. Too dangerous."

"Too dangerous?" Misato questions, dumbfounded. "Ritsuko, what's going on? Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I need to talk to you and we need to be as sure as possible that we aren't being followed."

Misato thinks quickly. It's easy to think of a reasonable compromise, it's what she's been trained for, after all. "Get on the motorway, I'll send you the location where I'll be waiting for you. It's safest if we stop at a refuge area along the motorway. Try not to miss me."

"Done. I'll see you there."

__

  
When Ritsuko's car pulls up behind hers at the refuge on the motorway, it's completely pitch black outside and very chilly. Misato gets out of her car, leaving all her belongings behind, including her mobile, and gestures for Ritsuko to do the same. Once outside, only the low beam of Ritsuko's headlights illuminates the space. The noise of the cars driving by on the motorway is quite loud, so Misato expects that even if their phones were bugged, the audio would be unusable. Still, when Ritsuko is within reach, she pats her down looking for any concealed devices. Alright. All clear. Not a soul but them is going to bear witness to this conversation.

Ritsuko's face is unreadable, especially in the unusual lighting. "They were tagged." she says.

"They were what?"

"Tagged. The victims, they were tagged. I am certain of it. I have all the proof I need to believe that they were designed by man, Misato."

Misato draws closer to hear Ritsuko's rushed words better, not quite believing her ears. "How? Why?"

"I don't know how, or why, but I am now certain that these chromosome 1 regions were programmed into their genomes as a molecular switch for death. Whoever's made these organisms - these _children_ \- is now cleaning house. It is very possible that their deaths were related to this "tag" region."

"Wow, slow down, what? You're certain?" Misato's eyes widen and they're searching Ritsuko's for any sign that this is just an ill-timed joke. She finds nothing. Ritsuko's face is grave, and she looks almost frightened. There is a slight tremor in her chin. This is all too real, Misato realises.

"I'm certain. They were made to be killed this way. And my bet is that whoever made them is getting rid of them now."

"Wait, you're telling me there's someone out there who's made these babies 15 years ago, correct?"

"Correct."

"And they're now being killed off and dumped on the street to be found?"

"Correct."

Misato is at a loss. "Who would even have the _resources_ to pull off something like this? My initial thought would be of a cult, but this is too costly for a cult. Too _impossible_. Fuck!" she shouts, in shock. "Ritsuko, what have we stumbled across?" she asks the other woman, feeling her hands go numb with the force of her grip on her own crossed arms.

"It's not a someone, Misato. It's not just one man or woman, or a small group. It's much bigger than that." 

The way Ritsuko says it, she sounds very certain. Misato is taken aback, for the umpteenth time this night. She dares not ask the obvious question that hangs between them.

"Misato, there's something else. I haven't been honest with you so far." A thousand thoughts run through her head at once, almost drowning out the noise of the motorway. _Focus, Misato_. She feels as though her entire being has turned into stone, trapping her in an eternity of dreadful anticipation. Ritsuko looks away, towards the incoming traffic of cars. "My mother, she was a scientist too. She was working for the government at a paramilitary research lab, as head scientist of a top secret initiative. The details of my mother's work had never been disclosed to me."

Ritsuko takes her time after this, and Misato's dread builds in her stomach. "My mother died in a road accident when I was still in high school. I was devastated at losing my only parent, as you can imagine. At that point, Gendo was the only adult left in my life."

"Who?"

"Gendo Ikari. As far as I knew, he was heading the project that my mother worked on, and he was also my mother's lover."

"Wh...what?"

Ritsuko pushes on, after a brief glance at Misato with restless, guilty eyes. "Gendo was my guardian after my mother's death and later on... more than that. You see, Misato... I never had anyone but Gendo Ikari. He arranged that I get supported by the state through medical school, and that I get my every bill paid. Though now I realise, he's been using me, like he had probably used my mother before me."

Misato was reeling. "You know Gendo Ikari? _My_ boss, Commissioner Gendo Ikari?"

"That's the one. Though let me tell you, he hasn't been a cop for nearly as long as you might think he has... Gendo was involved with a program called NERV for the better part of his life. Anyway, when he dismissed you and closed down the investigation into these children's deaths, he anticipated that you might come and see me. He knew you were quite upset about the outcome of the autopsies, on which you blamed the premature closure of your investigation. Gendo asked me to speak with you and befriend you, as a way to keep an eye on your movements. He knew you wouldn't give up without a fight."

Ritsuko turns to face her and smiles a small, sad smile. "And then I met you."

"No, no, no, no. Ikari sent... sent you to _spy on me_?" Misato sputters, feeling herself on the verge of an aneurism. This can't be happening.

"Get to know you, keep an eye out for him." Ritsuko's voice is barely audible over the traffic.

"And you're... you're sleeping with him? You're getting _fucked_ by my _boss_?" Misato all but shrieks. "What are you, some sort of cop-screwing slut?" Misato isn't proud of her reaction, or how her brain chooses to fixate on the least significant thing about these revelations. But she can't stop.

She slaps Ritsuko's face brutally, almost sending her head first into the oncoming traffic. Ritsuko stumbles, looking a little pathetic, but doesn't defend herself. Misato grabs her arm quickly to rescue her from the car lane, only to push her the opposite way until she topples over, against the hood of her own car. "So he knows everything, yeah? He's probably behind all this shit with the experimental babies that would be about...hmmm, let me think... _fourteen years old now_." Misato says, cynically. "And you're in cahoots with him. I've just discovered that the government is probably making factory children for some un-fucking-disclosed purpose and disposing of them so that the NPA can kindly find them, log them, and forget all about them. And you, Dr Akagi, are the only common denominator in all this. As far as I'm concerned, it all starts and ends with _you_."

Paradoxically, Misato feels herself being gripped by a serene clarity the angrier she gets. She pulls out her loaded gun, plants it firmly against the side of Ritsuko's neck, who looks up at Misato with appropriate fright in her large, watery eyes. So much for the calm, collected exterior.

"He doesn't know, Misato. He doesn't know about anything we've been doing. After the first night at your flat, when you showed me the evidence from the first three children, knowing how much it could cost you if it ended up in the wrong hands, I stopped being truthful to Gendo. He thinks I've joined your task force to confuse matters, not help them. He's groomed me all my life to be his plaything, his little soldier. I've been feeding him just enough to keep him content since then, though I'm terrified he might've caught on."

"Why should I believe a word of what you say?" Misato yells, pushing he barrel further into the soft flesh of Ritsuko's neck. The neck she's kissed so many times during these short months.

Ritsuko's face softens inexplicably. Her voice is like the gentlest caress. "You shouldn't."

"How could you have lied to me for so long?"

"I didn't mean for things to go as far as they did. I was just meant to go for dinner with you once. It was never meant to be like this."

Misato's hand shakes on the gun. "Like what?"

Ritsuko has the nerve to look at Misato as you would at a young child. With a little incredulity, a little adoration, and a lot of patience. "I never meant to fall in love with you."

Misato's face scrunches up with hatred. "Yeah. Sure."

"I mean it. Throughout this secret plan of ours, you've always put my safety before yours. You've protected me at any cost. You've given me so much... You've offered to help me get my research money back. No one's done things like that for me before. Gendo... he couldn't care less about my crumbling career. He's never called my name like he needed me. _You_ have. He never took care of me like you did, in these few months."

Misato feels like she's going to puke at being compared to _Gendo Ikari_. "Stop saying such rubbish."

"This is the whole truth, Misato. I'm so sorry I did this to you."

"I should kill you and leave your body here to rot."

"You could."

Misato drops her gun, hoists it back on her hip swiftly, the fight draining out of her. Just the slightest bit. She feels satisfaction at the way Ritsuko breathes in deeply, collecting herself, absently touching the spot on her neck where the gun's barrel was moments ago.

"What now, Dr Akagi? Say I believe you." Misato then takes her by surprise with another violent blow to her face. Ritsuko's nose starts bleeding, just the faintest trickle from her left nostril. In a moment of insanity, Misato thinks she should always looks like this. "Or maybe not. We'll see. What now?"

"I don't know. I don't know if Gendo is really involved in this, or whether this is the experiment my mother was working on at all."

"Has it ever occurred to you that your mother didn't actually die in an _accident_ like you think she did?"

"...It never occurred to me until recently. I was so blind."

"Welcome to the club."

"We have to get away from here. Gendo will figure it out, if he hasn't already. That we're onto him, and this sinister conspiracy that he's trying to cover up. We'll be the next ones turning up dead."

"Where would we go?"

Ritsuko's face almost lights up. Almost. "I don't know. Europe? Australia? Start a new life, away from all this."

Misato looks at her disbelievingly. "We can't leave everything behind. We can't let them get away with this."

"What else can we do? We don't know how deep this operation runs, or who else might be involved. We'll never figure it out. And we'll never infiltrate it. If Gendo hasn't made a single attempt to have me follow in my mother's footsteps in fifteen years, he's not going to start now."

Misato's brain is processing all the new information sluggishly, still in shock. "Out of curiosity, did Ikari offer you the job at the Medical Examiner's Office?"

"...Yes."

"Yeah. You're just his puppet, then. You're not useful to me."

Ritsuko takes the verbal slap just as gracefully as she took the physical ones, to Misato's irritation.

"What do you want to do now, Misato?"

"Don't fucking ask me that."

"We can go away."

"I don't want to be near you and your lies, Dr Akagi."

"I can destroy the evidence, and without any leads, the investigation will close. You can ask Gendo for a secondment, perhaps with the Interpol, and we can get out of here and never come back. I'll go wherever you go. Please, Misato."

Misato laughs sardonically. "No, Dr Akagi. That's now how this is going to go. We're going to get back to work and I will be watching your scheming backside all day and night. In fact, you will _work_ day and night to figure out how these "tagged" children died. And when you've figured out how they died, you're going to use that technology to kill Gendo Ikari for me."

"We don't know that killing Gendo will put an end to this."

"No, but we know that killing Gendo will kill Gendo." Misato says cynically. It's the least they could do, after all.

"I don't even know if killing Gendo like this would be feasible. Whoever did this clearly spent a lot of time, money and manpower to figure out the perfect crime. And had the foresight to implement the tag into the victims before birth. I doubt that Gendo himself is tagged with anything. I doubt I can figure this out on my own."

"You better pray you're smarter than your mother, Dr Akagi, because that's how it's going to go. Don't even try to run, or give yourself away to Ikari. I'll find you and I'll blow your brains out."

"Misato, I'd like nothing more than to keep my head on my shoulders, believe me. But it can't be done. He'll figure it out by the time I've made any real progress."

Misato lets out a displeased grunt. "So you really are useless."

Ritsuko nods. "It would appear so."

"Get in your car. We're driving to my place, and I'll decide what to do with you. Don't try to get away. I'll crash you into motherfucking oblivion, do you understand?"

Misato makes quick work of searching the woman's car and confiscating Ritsuko's phone, wallet, and keys. "Now drive. I'll be right behind you."

Misato follows Ritsuko swiftly along the motorway, with single minded focus. She doesn't care if it's the last thing she does, but she'll get to the bottom of this.

__

The drive goes smoothly at the beginning. When they get off the motorway and into the outskirts of Tokyo, Misato notices Akagi's car speeding away, taking bizarre turns. Her hand grips the steering wheel with force, anger coursing through her like a drug. Looks like Misato will make good on her promise to crash Ritsuko at the first opportunity.

The car chase is uneventful and essentially effortless for Misato. She does get frustrated with Akagi's choice of itinerary, though, as it consists of residential neighbourhoods and nothing else. Once Ritsuko takes a turn onto a small road following the riverbank of Shingashi river, Misato decides to cut the bullshit and races up next to the other car, driving against traffic from the opposite direction. She lightly pushes Akagi off-road, hoping that she'll stop. She looks over at her for a split second, and she notices the frightened look on her face. Misato doesn't get the chance to repeat the manoeuvre, for they soon reach a dead end at the end of the road. Not a good sign.

Misato applies the breaks and looks through the windshield in the dark. There's no light source outside but the headlights of their cars. She quickly switches on the torch on her phone. She steps outside, gun and torch in the same hand, when she sees Akagi exiting as well. That's it. Adrenaline coursing though her, she fires her gun at one of the tires of Akagi's car, both to disable her from getting behind the wheel again, and as a warning. _Don't fuck with me, you idiot._ She can't get too far on foot, and she definitely can't get away to anywhere Misato can't follow. She's done with these games. It looks like she'll have to restrain her and put her in the boot of her car. So much work. 

"Stop exactly where you are, Akagi. It's game over now. Hands where I can fucking see them."

Ritsuko slowly raises her hands. She's frightened, yes, but to Misato's confusion, she's not looking at her directly. She's glancing just behind her, into the darkness. A moment too late, Misato realises the peril that she's walked into.

"Katsuragi, put the gun down and turn around, slowly." 

Gendo Ikari's voice sounds from behind her. Misato wants to kick herself. Of course. "I don't think so, _sir_ ", she spits out, gun firmly pointed at Ritsuko, who looks between them, bewildered. 

"Put your firearm down and we can talk things through."

Misato ignores him boldly, feeling sweat prickling at the back of her neck. "Ritsuko, you fool. He's going to have us both killed. But I'll be damned if I go down without taking you with me."

Ritsuko looks desperately at Gendo. "Gendo, tell her what's going to happen now." she says, trying to sound calm and matter-of-fact. And failing miserably.

"What happens now depends entirely on herself."

Ritsuko's unease grows, which is plainly reflected on her face. "Tell her she needs to leave Japan tomorrow morning and forget everything she thinks she knows about this case, if she wants to live. That she's to be stationed in Germany for the foreseeable future, and that the trip is already arranged. Come on!"

"That was your job, doctor. It seems clear that your convincing work wasn't good enough for Superintendent Katsuragi. I'm afraid that offer is no longer on the table."

Misato rolls her eyes at Ritsuko's gullible words. "I can't believe you thought Ikari would let me live. He won't let either of us live, Ritsuko. I had such high regard for you and it turns out you're as bright as Siberian tundra in December."

They're both going to die. 

Misato thinks quickly, but before she can attempt to put together a plan in her head, Ritsuko takes a small step to the side, presumably to use Misato's body to completely hide from Gendo's gun barrel. Great. Misato is now a human shield, and not even a good one at that. She's one lanky, skinny bitch. Fuck you, Ritsuko.

Gendo's voice thunders behind her. "Doctor, step in my line of sight immediately. No sudden movements."

"Not unless you put your gun down, Gendo."

"Katsuragi, it's your last chance to turn around."

Misato is positively horrified at how these two monsters literally hold her life in their hands. Ritsuko stares at Misato until Misato looks into her eyes. Ritsuko's gaze is no longer frightened, now that Gendo can't see her, but instead sharp, calculated. Misato understands that Ritsuko is trying to communicate something to her, though what, she has no way of knowing. The next moments happen very quickly. Ritsuko mouths "stay calm" (or something completely different, as far as Misato's liquefied brain can tell) and in an instant she seizes her gun, and points it over Misato's shoulder at Gendo. Misato lets her do as she pleases, deciding that if she dies, she might as well trust this woman one last time. For old time's sake. 

The human shield analogy is very fitting. She's face to face with Ritsuko, whose eyes are trained on Gendo and Gendo alone. Misato expects to either die on the spot, or for some sort of bargaining to ensue between the two lovers holding each other at gunpoint. What she doesn't expect is for Ritsuko to take the brief moments of inaction on everyone's part to aim and shoot the gun at the bastard.

The sound is deafening, right behind Misato's ear. She feels herself drop to the ground, and hears several gunshots being fired. Distantly, she hopes they're all Ritsuko's (her) gun. Over the ringing in her ears, she senses Ritsuko joining her on the ground not long after. The two women cling to each other, and it feels like Misato's life depends on it. When she eventually comes to her senses, she looks over her shoulder at Gendo, who makes for a gory, messy sight on the concrete.

Ritsuko's shaking hands finally let go of the gun. They find each other's eyes, and Misato understands. She doesn't know what exactly has happened over the last couple of hours, but she understands that Ritsuko is not going to kill her, and was never going to get her killed. She asks anyway, voice uncharacteristically small:

"I'm next, aren't I?"

Ritsuko explodes into a nervous, but happy laugh. "No. God, no."

__

They leave Ikari there, careful not to touch his body. Misato is concerned that the bullets will trace back to her own firearm, though thankfully she's always been kind of a dirty cop. She has a duplicate of her standard issue handgun at her flat, signed off unbeknownst to the Gate armoury service. She tosses her gun in the lake; her throw is pretty strong. It'll take a while to find it, and by the time they do it'll be just another gun. The poster boy for inconclusive evidence.

They change Ritsuko's tire as quickly as they can and leave, fighting the horrendous fear of being discovered with a dead body. Back at Misato's place, Ritsuko goes into shock. She's just killed a man and it hits her like a bulldozer. Misato takes advantage of her vulnerable state and makes her spill her guts, and apologise in tears for her betrayal. Ritsuko maintains the whole time that she's never lied to Misato about her research and discoveries, and Misato is content that she's telling the truth. Towards the early hours of the morning, both women have gained some of their sanity back. Ritsuko realises that she'll be questioned at one point or another in the inquiry into Ikari's death, as any investigator with half a brain will be able to link her to her long-standing lover. Misato laughs at her shamelessly, for whatever reason. Ritsuko says that whatever happens to her, Misato will be none the wiser. She'll be long gone overseas by the end of the morning.

It turns out that Ikari never made any arrangements for Misato's secondment to Germany, which Ritsuko seems very betrayed by, before she settles into acceptance. Misato is called to the scene the next day, by the river where they left him, and starts leading the "investigation" into Commissioner Gendo Ikari's murder. The investigation into killer K is immediately suspended by the acting Commissioner who takes over in Ikari's stead, and Misato is named head of the newly allocated task force on the Ikari murder case.

Misato has Ritsuko destroy every bit of evidence on their computers and at the Institute relating to the mysterious "tags" on the genomes of the victims. Maya Ibuki, perhaps symbolically, remains the only loose end in the story. She's the only other soul who knew anything about any samples from the first three victims. In all seriousness, Ritsuko offers to murder Maya, and Misato politely declines with a sly smile. Better not. 

After the day Ikari's body is discovered, Misato and Ritsuko part ways for a long time. Inevitably, Ritsuko is brought in for questioning over her relationship with Gendo Ikari. Detective inspector Nakamura leads the interview while Misato listens from behind the one-way mirror. It causes her some pain to hear Ritsuko disclose everything there is to know about her and Gendo's relationship. How he was a father figure turned lover. How he exploited Ritsuko's situation when her research grant got withdrawn to bring her into the Medical Examiner's Office, when Misato is now pretty certain he could have actually helped her if he wanted. It hurts in ways Misato never really experienced before to hear her confess her love for Ikari. When DI Nakamura asks Ritsuko bluntly when she last had sexual relations with the victim, Ritsuko replies unflinchingly that she had slept with him mere days before his death. She points out nothing seemed amiss.

Kaji is stood by Misato, taking in the scene in the interrogation room. "I told you she's not what we think she is. Though I never expected that she was having sex with the boss, who is now dead. What a world, huh."

"Aren't you sad that the Commissioner is dead? Have some respect." Misato says distractedly.

"No. He was a right bastard and probably had it coming. My bet is on the Yakuza. He was dirty, I'm telling you. A cop this senior being literally massacred on the outskirts of Tokyo? Please. There's only one explanation for it." Kaji replies, and falls silent.

__

Months go by and the case closes. Misato is terrified that Ikari's NERV comrades are going to get rid of her any day, and Ritsuko must be too, though Misato has carefully stayed away from her. Nothing happens. It could be that Gendo Ikari tried to contain the situation by himself before sharing his concerns with the rest of the presumed NERV team. His sudden death seems not to have started any undue ripples. Misato thanks her lucky stars, once again.

__

Almost two years pass at breakneck speed, and Misato is handling more and more high-profile cases as Superintendent. She doesn't step a foot wrong, though at times she almost goes looking for Ritsuko Akagi. She hears she's no longer with the Medical Examiner's Office, and takes it as a sign that those lawyers she linked her up with worked their magic. A quick Google search could confirm this for her, but she doesn't want to check. She's better off living a fantasy in her head where Ritsuko is happy and well, doing what she does best. 

Misato settles into normalcy eventually, she is no longer looking over her shoulder in constant paranoia. It feels nice. Whatever's happened, it's behind her, and wistfully, she hopes it's behind Dr Ristuko Akagi as well. Some days, at her weakest, she daydreams of the life she could have had with Ritsuko, and it's beautiful. It feels like heaven. Though in reality, she doesn't think she could trust the other woman again. She trusted her with her life, but she doesn't think she can trust her again with her heart. And it doesn't matter. She can't, anyway. Ritsuko is too close to Gendo's death for Superintendent Katsuragi to afford going near her, lest it turns into a viable motive for Ritsuko to have murdered her lover. Exchanging one cop for another might be too appealing a narrative for the detectives at the Gate to ignore. She knows how police works. What it takes is an idea and the determination to dig up their respective alibis for the night, and it's game on.

Misato wakes up with Kaji by her side one morning, at the sound of her mobile ringing. Kaji snores soundly, buck naked underneath the covers and showing no signs of waking up. Misato rolls her eyes inwardly and picks up the call. As she listens to the person on the other end, she feels pure, unadulterated terror claw at her skin like a demonic beast. "Run the address by me, guv. I'm on my way."

She turns to shake Kaji awake, hoping he's too groggy to feel her hands shaking uncontrollably. "Wake the fuck up, you lazy bastard! There's been another murder. Young teen, name's Kaworu Nagisa. We have a new body."

FIN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for staying with me through this journey! 
> 
> Comments are the light of my life. Really, they are.

**Author's Note:**

> I had the science figured out for this one, I swear. In the end I decided against including a whole bunch of science as it was confusing, and I expect y'all guys aren't here for the boring science in the first place.


End file.
